ABSTRACT
The reviews by Clark and Davidson suggest that the 'literary dimension' is central to the enterprise of criticism, for better or worse. Avoiding static boundaries, he holds extremes in play and conveys tension as an activating force, above all the tension between death and life that forms not only the theme and purpose of the work but also the present experience of the audience. Emerging from a conversation in the mundane heart of New York, scene of the disaster that took on associations with the Day of Judgement, his comment captures the interaction of life and art. The metaphors convey the critic's complex response to the performance as a listener activating his intellectual, emotional, and imaginative faculties. His knowledge of the work and its performances is supplied not as superior expertise, but in the form of experience that allows him to understand and convey the special quality of this performance: not 'distant' but immediate, not 'brooding' but vibrant.
