The Comedy Debate
Critics: Excrement or Guardian Angels?
Ernest Hemingway once said: Critics are men who watch a battle from a high place, then come down and shoot the survivors. Aristotle said: There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing. Artist Ai Weiwei believes that: Criticism is, in the Chinese context, a positive, creative act, and Malcolm X famously said: If you have no critics you’ll likely have no success.
If writers work outside the margins, then critics are those scuttling in the blind space which lies even further beyond. Do critics paralyse and annihilate us, or do they urge us on to do better, ultimately making our work stronger in the long term?
Darwin comedian Amy Hetherington wil be the MC for Wordstorm’s traditional closing event: The Comedy Debate. So strap yourself in for wordsmithery at its finest, as two teams of authors test their lexicons to the limit to prove a point – and garner as many laughs as possible.
The teams have now been announced! Arguing against critics will be award-winning playwright Mary Anne Butler, novelist and screenwriter Courtney Collins, and actor, director, and writer Gail Evans. Arguing in favour of critics will be Darwin comedienne Ange Wu, Alice Springs novelist Jo Dutton, and festival guest writer – and Stella short-listed author – Claire G. Coleman. Don’t miss it!
6.30pm-8pm
Browns Mart Theatre
$15/$10 NTWC members
