ascetic aesthetics

A reader writes (re: unsold) that British GQ has dropped 'luxury' as one of the words above its masthead.

Will the credit crunch also lead to a new 'ascetic aesthetic' in the arts?

In the New Yorker this week, Hilton Als reviews David Cromer's stripped-back production of Thornton Wilder's Our Town. It sounds like theatre's version of unplugged.

'We've grown so accustomed to the glitz of acting - the special effects, the makeup, the lighting - that we sometimes forget that the best part of it comes from the performer's soul, the desire to express the truth through a fantasy. By doing away with the effects ... Cromer provides us with a master class in the fundamental art of making believe'

Pic: David Cromer as the Stage Manager in Our Town.