Critical Condition has addressed many issues of theatre writing–from the difference between reviews and criticism to ethics to what makes a critic–but have you ever wondered what it is like to actually be a critic? For our fifth installment of the critic’s series, PerformInk invited one critic to describe her typical week-in-a-life. From juggling daily routines to deadlines, here is an up close and personal inspection of one critic’s life.

Monday, October 15:

It’s the height of the theatre and dance season, and I’m beginning to feel like my weeks blur into the weekends. I’m anticipating some breathing time (maybe) after Nov. 1. But I’m also feeling invigorated by the endless offerings–especially in the midst of our national crisis.

I got up around 5:30 a.m. to write reviews for www.chicagotheater.
com to be posted later today, and to put the finishing touches on a PerformInk profile. I had to shorten my morning stretches and yoga exercises to make my deadlines. I quickly checked my e-mail between sips of tea and bites of toast. Online, I got a note from the publicist for Same Planet Different World Dance Theater. Artistic director Anna Simone Levin would be available for a phone interview at 12:30 p.m.–a story I’m writing on the company’s fall concert for the Chicago Tribune. I also needed to send over story pitches to the Trib this morning and, by noon, managed to finish my reviews/profile and get the okay from one of my editors at the Trib for a feature on Dance Chicago–due Oct. 26.

Interview with Anna went well. I broke for lunch and realized that I needed to do some grocery shopping. I called [my husband] Joe at his office to see what he had a taste for this week–and we singled out tomorrow night for a relaxing dinner at home (a luxury!). We decided on an Italian- and Mexican-themed cuisine week. Grocery shopping and cooking also help me clear my head between writing and conducting interviews (the latter activities practically consume my days).

By mid-afternoon, I was back online and on the phone coordinating interviews for story assignments for the rest of the week–and responding to a number of theatres checking to see if I received their press releases or if I would be attending their opening nights. I then took a look at my Day Timer to determine how many shows I could realistically fit into the week and weekend–a task I liken to assembling a huge jigsaw puzzle. I also need to balance my commitments between theatre and dance.

When I can’t make an opening night, I try hard to catch up with a show–prioritizing according to the productions’ closing dates and a mix of small, mid-size and larger companies addressing a variety of topics. It’s also a matter of physical and mental endurance–and sometimes I have to accept the fact that there are not enough hours in the day, week or month to see everything.

By 4:30 p.m. I’m preparing a Southwest frittata for an early dinner because I’m judging scenes for the Women’s Theatre Alliance "Scene Showcase" from 6-10 p.m. tonight at Sheil Park. I won’t see Joe until around 10:30 p.m.–after viewing something like 25 two-person scenes running the gamut of skills and styles but moving along at a brisk pace. Nonetheless, my head is starting to spin, and I really need tomorrow night off.

Tuesday, October 16:

I had a little more time to do my stretches and yoga routine this morning. One of these days, I’ll get back into my running. But I prefer writing early in the morning, and jogging cuts into my creative time. By 6 or 7 a.m., Joe has finished his jog, and we can enjoy breakfast together. I prepare for four phone interviews today and spend the early part of the morning writing a story on Pegasus Players’ Bronzeville for UR Chicago (due tomorrow). From 10 a.m. through 12:30 p.m., I’ve conducted interviews with dancer-choreographer Jeffery Hancock for the Same Planet Different World Trib piece, along with Wendy Sternberg, organizer of the "Genesis Project"–a celebration of Middle Eastern arts at the Chicago Cultural Center–and Jasmin Jahal, a belly dancer who will be performing at the event (a story for the Trib due later this week). Break for lunch, throw in a load of laundry and watch CNN as I page through the newspaper and a few magazines.

By 1:30 p.m., I’m doing a phone interview with Sylvia Hernandez-DiStasi, who’s choreographing the circus acts for Gulliver’s Circus at The Actors Gymnasium (story for UR Chicago). I later answer a few fact-checking questions about my multicultural holiday music/dance feature for the December issue of North Shore Magazine, speak with my editor at Fra Noi (an Italian-American newspaper) about December stories, answer numerous e-mails, and open my snail mail (which can take anywhere between 20 and 40 minutes).

The stress has been overwhelming this week, though, and there are a few personal traumas. I’m frequently checking in with Mom, who might have to have back surgery next week; and one of my friends is going through a painful divorce (so we’ve been talking and e-mailing for a good part of the week).

I’m all talked out right now, and I just want to relax. Then my phone rings, and it’s the executive director of a local dance company who tells me that the choreographer I wanted to interview for my Dance Chicago story is going out of the country tomorrow afternoon. Is there a chance I could interview her later today? I was willing to if it were my only option, but we agreed on the better option of tomorrow morning. By 5 p.m., I was ready to start dinner. I really find cooking to be fun and relaxing. In a weird way, it’s when I’m preparing a meal that I come up with leads for my stories. I also want to point out that my yellow parakeet, Valentine, is quite a rambunctious inspiration. She reminds me to take a break by flying back and forth in front of my computer screen.

Tonight Joe and I were able to catch up on our lives over a relaxing dinner of penne sautéed with broccoli, garlic and olive oil; veal pan-fried with radicchio and shallots; a salad drizzled with fresh arugula-pesto dressing; and white wine.

Wednesday, October 17:

I started the day with two phone interviews for my Gulliver’s Circus and Dance Chicago stories before plunging into the Gulliver’s Circus feature and sending it, along with my Nov./Dec. "Theater Picks," to UR Chicago. I also will be reviewing Deeply Rooted Dance Theatre for the Trib tomorrow night.

I took a much-needed break at 12:30 p.m. and met a friend in the neighborhood for lunch after dropping off the dry cleaning. Later, I did another Dance Chicago interview. Joe came home early tonight because we had planned on catching a movie at the Chicago International Film Festival. Then we realized how busy the rest of our week would be and decided to rent a movie instead–ultimately a great idea because I would be working the entire weekend.

Thursday, October 18:

I got back into a more extensive yoga routine this morning before settling in at my computer and writing my story on "The Genesis Project" and turning it in by 10 a.m. I also talked with the Trib about a Q&A with Loretta Swit, who is appearing in The Vagina Monologues; I will be interviewing "Hot Lips" Houlihan next week. I then coordinated interviews for my upcoming PERFORMINK stories and a Trib piece on WomanLore, a new theatre company devoted to women in history. The rest of my week and weekend rapidly filled up with assignments and activities. I need to tackle a lot now to ease the pressure off next week when I have about ten stories due.

I’m doing an overnight review of Deeply Rooted Dance Theatre tonight at The Dance Center of Columbia College. I’m also anxious to try a new vegetarian chili recipe. So I whip that up for dinner and gulp it down as I catch up on my reading and open two days’ worth of mail–and try to keep updated on the world situation with the TV news in the background. I take the eL to The Dance Center for an 8 p.m. show. At intermission, I call Joe–who worked late tonight–to let him know the show ends at 10 p.m. so he can pick me up (we share one car). I bolt out of the theatre, get home, write very fast and fall asleep just as quickly.

Friday, October 19:

I’m on the phone all morning doing interviews with more dancers/choreographers for my Dance Chicago story. I talk with Mom, who does not need back surgery but has to go into the hospital next week for an "epidural" to alleviate an inflamed spinal disk that’s pressing on a nerve. We talk about what she might need and when I can come over.

I’m also writing a story on the Lou Conte Dance Studio for Dance Teacher Magazine. Later this afternoon, I meet with Julie Nakagawa Bottcher for an interview at the Lou Conte Dance Studio on West Jackson. Afterwards, I head into downtown and stop for a salad at the Corner Bakery–catching up on my reading and talking with Joe for a while on my cell phone before I attend the second week of Joffrey Ballet’s fall season at the Auditorium Theatre. I’m going to be writing a commentary for www.chicagotheater.com and I am especially interested in the world premiere of Paul Christiano’s ensemble work, "Miracle, Interrupted," which I originally saw earlier this year as a work-in-progress at Melissa Thodos and Dancers "New Dances" concert. I’m feeling pretty tired tonight, but the concert is very polished and exhilarating. I get home at a reasonable hour but decide I can wait until tomorrow to post my thoughts on Joffrey.

Saturday, October 20:

I might typically have a matinee on Saturday or write a review or story during the day. But rarely is a Saturday this hectic and jam-packed. I tried to do some reading and straighten up the apartment, but time seemed to be zipping right past me. I quickly threw together tortilla soup for lunch; Joe and I hung out for a while. Then I walked over to the Apollo Theater to see Emerald City Theatre Company’s matinee performance of Rumpelstiltskin. I would be interviewing the troupe’s founders after the show for PerformInk’s children’s issue. Our interview ended around 3:30 p.m., and I dashed over to the Athenaeum Theatre to make the 4 p.m. performance of Runamuck Productions’ Scary Godmother, followed by an interview with ensemble members.

I got home close to 7 p.m.; Joe and I ate leftovers and we both ran ut a half-hour later to cacth Clock Productions’ The Big Funk at the Chotpin Theatre. A fairly new company, I wanted to check out their work and write about the production for www.chicagotheater.com. When we got home, Joe and I just needed to watch something mindless on TV. We made popcorn and chilled.

Sunday, October 21:

No yoga today. I am wiped out. But I also think I must be insane. Earlier this month, I had agreed to be part of a video archival project, and the filming was taking place this morning at 10 a.m. For many years, I have been writing about the multifaceted programs at the Oak Park Academy of Movement and Music, as well as its modern dance troupe, Momenta. The group is dedicated to preserving the works (from the 1920s through 1940s) of Doris Humphrey.

Artistic director Stephanie Clemens asked if I would like to interview Ernestine Stodelle (now in her early 90s), a former member of the Humphrey-Weidman company, for Momenta’s video archives. She was in town to coach the dancers on reconstructions of Humphrey’s 1928 "Grieg Concerto." So I got up early and prepared my questions. Luckily, I was familiar with Humphrey’s and Stodelle’s work. So I didn’t have to bury myself in research the entire weekend.

I drove out to Oak Park, met with Ernestine–who is a delightful and inspiring woman–and filming began at 10:30 a.m. We did an intense on-camera interview at the Academy for one hour. It was exhausting but one of the most enlightening and fulfilling experiences of my professional life. I truly felt part of the whole creative continuum.

I got home by 12:30 p.m. Joe and I had lunch together. Then I think the weekend caught up with me–plus I don’t believe I realized how draining any sort of video work could be. I fell asleep on our living room couch for an hour.

Shortly after 3 p.m., I went downtown to catch the remount of Shattered Globe Theatre’s Coyote on a Fence at The Storefront Theatre (a show I’ve been trying to see for a few weeks now). It started at 4 p.m. I was so impressed with the original production at Victory Gardens earlier this year and was curious about the new setting. I’m often intrigued by how theatre companies adapt to new spaces and wanted to explore this idea for some of this week’s Web site commentary. I actually thought the prison drama was more compelling in the Storefront’s raw space, with its catwalks and exposed brick walls. I couldn’t stay for the post-show discussion series because I was on my way to the Ruth Page Dance Awards at The Dance Center.

I had about 20 minutes to grab something to eat. McDonald’s was the only restaurant open in the Loop at 6 p.m. on a Sunday. Then I dashed over to The Dance Center only to experience one of the most excruciatingly long evenings of my life. Suffice it to say that the emcee was inexcusably ill-prepared, and what could have been a festive event plodded along for close to three hours. It was wonderful, though, to catch up with my colleagues in the dance community and brainstorm about more exciting, large-scale ways we can celebrate dance in this city.

When I got home, Joe thought it might be a good idea to start planning a vacation soon…very soon!

Any feedback?

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What are we doing this for?

Story 1:
Picks & Pans, Essay & Esoterica

Story 2:
Power, Money & Poisen Pens in the Real World of Theatre Writing

Story 3:
The Making of a Theatre Writer

Story 4:
The Ethical Dilemmas of Theatre Journalism

Story 6:
Recovering Arts Coverage

Story 7:
Talking It Out