Doom Chat

One of the most controversial announcements at this year's Fringe has been the appointment of Dr Doom as 'critic at large' by the VileArts. We are delighted to have the CEO of VileArts, Gareth K Vile, with us today to talk about this bold strategy.

Thank you for joining us, Gareth. If we can get down to the basics... Dr Doom. Why? Just... why?

Well, Doom has got many of the qualities that I would look for in a critic. He's bold, opinionated, and he speaks about himself in the third person. It lends his theories a bit more credence, pretending that they are more objective. He got in contact with us- and face it: who is going to say no to the one true ruler of Latveria?

I can see how there might be other pressures on you to give Doom a role, but isn't he more famous for other things?  Like failing to conquer the world and being made to look stupid by Reed Richards out of the Fantastic Four?

I think Doom's interest in criticism comes from his rivalry with Richards. It's a little known fact that the Fantastic Four have been providing dramaturgical support for The Wooster Group for the past decade - Reed's flexibility is in his mind as much as his limbs - and Doom wants to show that he has got the intellectual chops. He told me that he has conquered science and magic, and only the arts are left.

We know that he has some beautiful paintings in his palace...

Unsurprisingly, he is a big fan of Wagner and the whole 'total theatre' scene. But his real love is in cross-platform work. One of the big advantages he has is that he is able to go unnoticed in a  crowd. That mask of his ensures his anonymity.

I didn't think he took it off.

He doesn't. But you can never tell whether it is him of one of his doombots. After we heard that The Herald was employing Multiple Man to save money on critics this Fringe, we felt the VileArts needed that edge.

So, do you have any other big names lined up?

We were hoping to get Namor The Submariner to cover cabaret, but he is insisting that he invented Boylesque by strutting around in his speedos for fifty years.