Seth Mecklenburg | Arts & Life Co-Editor
Dean of Communication and Arts and Professor of Theatre Dr. Michael Whitlatch teaches and directs in the theatre department at Buena Vista University (BVU). Whitlatch also writes regular book reviews for “Choice: Current Review for Academic Libraries” and recently had another review published in the March edition.
“‘Choice’ is a publication that goes to college and university libraries about new academic books that have hit the market. The person I work with at ‘Choice’ sends me book reviews based on my interest areas, which tends to be American theatre, modern British theatre, directing and sometimes material dealing with Hollywood and the Hollywood blacklist of the late 1940’s to 1950’s,” Whitlatch said.
His most recent review is of “An Ideal Theatre: Founding Visions for a New American Art.”
“For the first time ever, someone put together a collection of essays, speeches, and book excerpts that documented some of the most important developments in, we might say, the development of American theatre. There was an essay on the federal theatre project, the national theatre of the deaf, The Mercury Theatre which Orson Welles was involved with,” Whitlatch said.
The development of women’s theatre was also a topic in the work, as it covers major portions of the evolution of modern American theatre.
“It really offers a panoramic view of American theatre from some of the really important visionaries of the last one hundred years,” Whitlatch said.
The author of “An Ideal Theatre,” Todd London, collected these materials, mostly essays and wrote and introduction to each one providing historical context.
According to Whitlatch, writing the reviews isn’t an easy task. From the time he receives the work until the book is due, he has about a month. He tries to read the work in three weeks so he can then use the rest of the time to analyze and write his review. The word limit for Choice’s reviews is 199 words. Whitlatch says his initial draft winds up at somewhere close to 250 words.
“Then I have to edit down and edit down. When I get it down to the 190s to 215 is when I will submit it. I send it in three or four days before the actual due date,” Whitlatch said.
Then two to three months later he finds out if it’s going to be published. He gets the review back when it’s published with the editorial changes. At the same time he gets it back, the person who wrote the book he reviewed also receives a copy.
“This doesn’t happen a whole lot, but I do appreciate when I get an e-mail from the person whose book I reviewed saying that I got the essence of it. Thankfully, I have never gotten one that said ‘I didn’t like it; I hate you’ or that type of thing,” Whitlatch said.
He knew about “Choice” before he started writing reviews for the publication. He had been reading the reviews and noticed he knew some of the reviewers from theatre conventions. He approached a librarian about how to get involved, filled out the paperwork, was accepted and has been writing reviews since 1991. He reviews about six works a year.
“I find it very rewarding. I see it as a way of staying professionally engaged with the latest scholarship that’s going on. I always feel incredibly gratified when I find out I’m right,” Whitlatch said.
Whitlatch also reviewed a work by Tom Stoppard, a playwright and screenwriter who has won four Tony’s and an Academy Award. Stoppard had his agent call Whitlatch.
“Stoppard wanted me to know that I caught the essence of his book. To me that was a pretty big deal. I felt very pleased that an internationally known playwright, whose works had done on the London stage, on Broadway, at colleges and universities saw that review, and liked it enough to tell his agent, ‘go call this guy’,” Whitlatch said.
“I will probably continue to do this after I retire, and I certainly am going to keep doing it as long as I’m here [at BVU]. As long as I enjoy doing it and they are happy with my work then there is a reason to continue,” Whitlatch said.
Whitlatch does have a goal before he stops writing these reviews as well.
“I consider it a challenge to write the review that the editor is not going to change. I haven’t gotten there yet. I have gotten close on a couple of occasions,” Whitlatch said.
Whitlatch believes that overall his experience with “Choice” has helped him in the classroom. Some of the work he comes across or information he reads about he uses in his classes.
Photo by Tyson Domingo
