Onstage, Looks Matter. Let’s Not Pretend They Don’t.

“One of the oddest aspects of writing about theatre is the tricky question of how one goes about describing the actors. After all, it is their presence, the way they look and how they sound, that constitutes a large element of seeing a play. The problem for critics is balancing the need to describe the obvious and deliberate dynamics which have been – often calculatedly – set up, while at the same time trying not to offend, appear lecherous, or come across as entirely superficial.”