Portraying The Making Of Art Onstage (It Ain’t Easy)

“For the most part, dramatized lives of the artists – on film as well as on stage – are flat-out embarrassing when our hero is shown in the Act of Creation. This usually involves some tortured-looking actor staring at a blank surface … eyes aflame and brow furrowed like a freshly plowed field.” But sometimes, writes Ben Brantley, folks get it right.