In "The New York Times"

"The New York Times"
December 6th, 2009


11:50 am


32.

Ben Brantley's Theater Reviews

Ben Brantley writes so truly, sincerely and intimately that his writings read like everybody's--at least my--inner biography. Like Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, Dostoyvsky and Proust and the rest of them great writers, Brantley has roamed the entire road-map of human nature, and like Gilgamesh, has come back to tell us the full story. Brantley's reviews transport the reader from the fog of the prose of daily reality to the sun of the poetry of art. Located thousands of miles from NYC, I couldn't go and see this recent STREETCAR staging, but like Hamlet seeing his dead father in his mind's eye, I likewise could see the play in my heart's eye, thanks to Brantley's vivid and colorful description. I salute Ben Brantley for removing geographical distances to make loving souls of the theater be present in NYC watching plays--without paying for the tickets.

After all, I have always depended on the kindness of strangers

Sincerely

Siddeek Tawfeek,

Iraqi Academic and Translator

— Siddeek Bakr Tawfeek, Qatar