Dumbocracy in America: Studies in the Theatre of Guilt, 1987-1994

No theatre critic in America is more informed by ideas than Robert Brustein, and no critic does a better job of relating theatre to the larger culture. In this new collection of essays, reviews, and profiles (some of them appearing here for the first time), Mr. Brustein uses the prism of the American theatre to explore the motivating impulses behind rampant political correctness. Art and politics belong in separate compartments, he writes. Creative activity is almost invariably diminished when it is politicized. He laments the prevailing belief that the critical function of drama is to arouse the guilt of its audience; he abhors the efforts of multiculturalists to discredit other groups in order to validate their own existence. Ranging widely over the American cultural landscape, Mr. Brustein considers government efforts to regulate the arts; the rosy retrospectives of American radicalism; and the undue influence of the New York Times, and offers his intelligent and clear-eyed assessments of the theatre's productions and people that have been notableand sometimes notoriousover recent years. As always, he is both a pleasure to read and a cultural education.