Born in England, I came to New York to escape mother. Was ever a sentence crafted that was both so evocative and indicative of its writer s profession? Yes, kids, the author in question could only be a theater critic. It s The Observer s John Heilpern, and this week he takes on his former countrymen, three of whom are currently represented in New York by classic American plays they ve directed: Anthony Page withWho s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, David Leveaux with The Glass Menagerie and Edward Hall with A Streetcar Named Desire. (For what it s worth, we caught Streetcar the other night and, in the words of a classic New Yorker cartoon, just getting the hell out of there was worth the price of admission. Hall s dereliction of directorial duty started the moment he neglected to purchase a membership at Crunch for John C. Reilly.) Heilpern claims that Broadway is in thrall to Anglophilia and suffers from an insecurity about its own past, and avers that If the American theater has any future, it will come from nurturing exciting young American talent not from imports. Strong words that should be followed by immediate action: Where s the revival of Good Vibrations already? —AB

Crikey! Brits Invade Again And All Kneel in Adoration [Observer]

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