March 30, 2005
The Withered Husk of Peter O'Toole Completely Loses Its Mind
filed under: Idle Chatter
Via the indespensible theatre news aggregator Broadway Stars comes this Guardian UK story.
Apparently, Peter O'Toole has completely flipped his wig over the state of the theatre in Britain. Quoth O'Toole:
"The bulbous state-run theatre provides a healthy living for smart-aleck twats."
and:
"There are always promising young actors, and today the sensible ones fuck off from what calls itself 'the theatre' as soon as they can because it's such badly done shit," he said. "Do you feel you can hop on a bus to the West End to see the likes of Paul Scofield, Richard Burton and Laurence Olivier?"
and:
"Books have been written about that so-called 'renaissance' at the Royal Court Theatre," said O'Toole. "Bollocks. I watched this appaling bunch of strange young men creeping around, talking pompously..."
When people have so much money they no longer care what anyone thinks of them, it's called "fuck you" money. O'Toole clearly has, at the age of 293, "fuck you" cred. Good for him.
Not that anyone who showed his face(lift) in Troy should be telling anybody else about "badly done shit..."
Now, if I had vast mytical powers, I would trade the bullshit British theatre scene for the bullshit American theatre scene in three ticks. State-funded theatre providing a good living? If thinking that sounds like a little slice of heaven makes me a socialist, then paint me pinko and BRING IT ON.
But I would be willing to bet that our smart-aleck twats could take their smart-aleck twats in a knife fight.
UPDATE: Let me clarify that I don't necessarily disagree with O'Toole. I have seen exactly two shows in London in the last 14 years, one of which was - tragically - "Mamma Mia" (the other was "The Cherry Orchard" with Vanessa Redgrave, so I figure they cancel each other out), so I have no basis for an opinion on the current British theatre scene. I just find it deeply entertaining to see the ol' codger come out a-spittin' and a-cussin'.
Posted by rjt at March 30, 2005 10:39 AMRJ, you're such a pompous whiner.
Bad art exists subsidized or on the free market.
And I'd go so far as to say that artists who owe no responsibility to an audience or a bottomline are encouraged to crawl into their own navel and rot.
Collegiate theater anyone?
Move to Britain, you goateed Marxist windbag. Go to Britain and make sure a funeral cortege of wannabe sell-out off-off-broadway "artistes" with you.
Look, beyotch, all I'm saying is if I'm going to be a smart-aleck twat, I'd rather be a PAID smart-aleck twat. Not all of us have figured out how to sell our mental flatulence to Maxim.
And if you're going to try to tell me that you didn't have more fun doing snotty, whiny, entitled college theatre than scraping around the periphery doing nights-and-weekends budgetless self-prod in Billyburg, I'm going to say you're a liar as well as a faux contrarian pseudo-cynic.
Posted by: rjt at March 30, 2005 12:24 PMDon't project your self-hatred on me, you fancy ass, tap-dancing vegetard.
And your slight to scrappy, sincere little po-dunk theater's in Billyburg is duly noted, fat mouth. You'll never work on that block again. Oh, I have that power. How will you know? Burning effigies, my friend. Cotton goatees on fire.
And no, I didn't enjoy the deafening vaccum of college theater. That's decorative art for dead people.
You want an easy paycheck? There are no easy paychecks. I labor blindly and one day the little piles of shit that I step into will maybe, not really, but maybe be a wee little pot of gold.
The rewards of art transcend the petty, pinheaded definitions of what we're told success is. Per your previous post, chasing a band through the rain with your son is one such mark of success that transcends the tawdry earthly ones.
Also: you're a goat-licking, nipple-shaving, body odor-rife mounteback with poor metaphysical hygene. If you were a fruit, you'd be a pineapple. Ungainly, full of thorny prickly leaves, and you taste great with vodka.
Suck on that vengence, Stalin.
Posted by: devore at March 30, 2005 12:34 PMYou misspelled "hygiene" and "vengeance."
That said, I yield in the face of your superior flame war kung fu.
There's lots of substantive discussion to be had on this topic, which I can't get into because I'll just start calling you names again. Suffice it to say that, whatever the cause, the theatre in London is for the most part really, really good.
Polyp.
-R
Posted by: rjt at March 30, 2005 12:54 PMOh, you think i'll let you off that easy, you fudge juggling, playground gravel chewing, neanderthal ballerina blog trash dryer sheet sniffing lover of festering ziggerauts of doggie doo on the corner of your nearest street?
ok.
xo
Posted by: devore at March 30, 2005 01:49 PMBest. Flame. War. Ever.
Posted by: Twin C at March 30, 2005 02:28 PMo'toole, plato, and kermit were right.
Posted by: frydry at March 30, 2005 04:19 PMBoys Boys...you're both pretty...
Posted by: Peanuthead at March 31, 2005 09:47 AMDINGDINGDINGDINGDING!
Peanuthead has weighed in with the 200th comment to Procrastinet! Congratulations Peanuthead! You are the winner of a **free** subscription to Procrastinet!
Posted by: rjt at March 31, 2005 10:03 AMi'm more prettierest
Posted by: devore at March 31, 2005 11:10 AMTo be fair, Peter O'Toole slagged off Troy as well.
Posted by: Rach at April 13, 2005 10:35 AM