If Attila the Hun were alive
today, he’d be a drama critic ~ Edward Albee
Shaw, who knew a thing or two about plays as well as criticism, reckoned 'absolute honesty is an absurd abstraction' and the subjectivity of personal opinion is as self-evident in reviewing drama as food, or holidays, or dogs that look like their owners at the local fair. The job of the theatre critic is not to be objective or even unarguably fair, it's to show the highlights and the warts and ~ in the words of the great Ken Tynan ~ 'to make way for the good by demolishing the bad'. Which is quite a lofty aim, and one which may not always be appreciated by its smarting recipient/s, so here comes a final quote on the subject from prolific drama critic Lynn Gardner: "a reviewer is entitled to be spiteful as long as she is honest." The 'she' came about because this is taken from a court ruling after legal action, but gender is irrelevant when steering a course between sharp-tongued and mealy-mouthed, with one eye on wounded feelings of writer / director / actors and the other on a responsibility to punters about to part with mega-squids for 3 Acts of pretentiousness masquerading as edgy contemporary drama. Sorry Mr Bartlett but I appear to be alone in this view, so no harm done eh?
So what's this new blog about then, apart from a patchwork of quoted thoughts on critiquing? I've decided, as my personal blog is supposed to be mainly about my life & times in Frome, promoting the lively local scene and including various aspects of creativity and culture from jazz jams to art exhibitions & festivals, that I would start another blog purely for issues around theatre. That way I can explore responses and ideas more fully... and hopefully become a much better playwright myself in the process.
And the blog title, if you're not familiar with Tom Lehrer's caustic take on American history, concludes with the kind of ruthless single-mindedness of a writer, director, or indeed any participant: Apart from that Mrs Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?
Shaw, who knew a thing or two about plays as well as criticism, reckoned 'absolute honesty is an absurd abstraction' and the subjectivity of personal opinion is as self-evident in reviewing drama as food, or holidays, or dogs that look like their owners at the local fair. The job of the theatre critic is not to be objective or even unarguably fair, it's to show the highlights and the warts and ~ in the words of the great Ken Tynan ~ 'to make way for the good by demolishing the bad'. Which is quite a lofty aim, and one which may not always be appreciated by its smarting recipient/s, so here comes a final quote on the subject from prolific drama critic Lynn Gardner: "a reviewer is entitled to be spiteful as long as she is honest." The 'she' came about because this is taken from a court ruling after legal action, but gender is irrelevant when steering a course between sharp-tongued and mealy-mouthed, with one eye on wounded feelings of writer / director / actors and the other on a responsibility to punters about to part with mega-squids for 3 Acts of pretentiousness masquerading as edgy contemporary drama. Sorry Mr Bartlett but I appear to be alone in this view, so no harm done eh?
And the blog title, if you're not familiar with Tom Lehrer's caustic take on American history, concludes with the kind of ruthless single-mindedness of a writer, director, or indeed any participant: Apart from that Mrs Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?
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