Celebrity Deathmatch: Theater Edition - Hare vs. Abramson

Did anyone see Page Six this weekend? Playwright David Hare got into a "screaming match" with NY Times managing editor Jill Abramson. Apparently Hare was pretty pissed that Brantley had savagely attacked his play, The Vertical Hour, like a sabre-toothed tiger on a pile of rib-eye steaks.

In case you don't recall, Brantley called Vertical Hour "soggy" and put it admittedly bluntly by saying that Bill Nighy mopped the floor using both Julianne Moore and the play itself. Brantley even accused Hare of committing "crimes against dialogue". Ouchie.

Well, the critics pan of Vertical Hour didn't stop it from recouping, but it still pissed David Hare off enough to flip out at Jill Abramson at a recent screening of (pacifist) Richard Gere's new movie The Hoax. He said, "You must be kidding. The Times has contempt for the theater, especially Broadway, and especially plays." Saucy Abramson replied, "Listen, it is not our obligation to like or care about the theater. It's our obligation to arbitrate it. We are the central arbiter of taste and culture in the city of New York." To which Hare countered, "What are you talking about? If you believe that, you are even more out of touch than your newspaper appears. You have a critic who despises the theater."

Moxie wonders what Abramson initially said to incite Hare's anger - doubtless it was something with some stingers attached. It's hard to believe that Brantley actually hates theater - if he did, he would probably go crazy from having to see so much of it, and that would make his reviews a lot more fun to read. At any rate, there are some more money quotes in the full article, which you can read here. Moxie tends to agree with producer Scott Rudin - it takes guts for an artist to stand up against the critics, so good for him. Plus, screw the "central arbiter of taste and culture". They may, in fact, be just that, but the statement is so arrogant you can't not side with Hare. But you know what? At the end of the day, The Vertical Hour was really bad.