Via "You've Cott Mail," a daily blog digest by Thomas Cott [thomas.cott@verizon.net]:
Quote of the Day: "God love the critics! Bless their picky hearts!"
Posted by Mark Shenton on his blog for The Stage, July 8, 2010
Yesterday the Critics' Circle bade formal farewell to Benedict Nightingale, who retired in May as chief theatre critic of The [London] Times; and last night Benedict -- now a civilian -- was appropriately in the stalls again for the first night of La Bête, where Mark Rylance extravagantly proclaimed (in the rhyming couplets of which the entire play is comprised):
"I'm grateful for a shrewd critique;
It keeps my talent honest, so to speak!
We of the theatre share that common view -
The criticisms of the things we do
Inspire our interest, not our hurt or rage:
We know it's part of 'being on the stage'
To have oneself assessed at every turn,
And thus we show a willingness to learn
From judgements which might wound another man.
I much prefer to any drooling fan
A critic who will SLICE me into parts!
GOD LOVE THE CRITICS! BLESS THEIR PICKY HEARTS!
Precisely, and in no uncertain terms,
They halve the apple, showing us our worms."
