Theater critic critiques the critic

Don Shirley, a theater critic in Los Angeles for many years, including many at the L.A. Times, is now writing for L.A. Stage. He wasn't real thrilled on Sunday to pick up the Times and see film critic Kenneth Turan writing about his own new book on theater. Excerpt from Shirley:

Turan misunderstands what “made theater in America both accessible and essential” during [Joe] Papp’s lifetime. That task was performed not in New York, where theater was already quite “accessible and essential,” thank you very much. It happened in Los Angeles and elsewhere outside New York.

Those were the decades when professional, non-profit companies appeared throughout America. Although these companies are often labeled “regional,” which carries a whiff of condescension, they deserve most of the credit for making American theater ”accessible and essential.”

He ends with a little dig: "I look forward to seeing if or how the Los Angeles Times covers the recently published book 'Stepping Ahead,' Lawrence Christon’s history of South Coast Repertory. Perhaps the theater critic, not the film critic, should tackle this assignment."