AdlFringe Diary 1: So You Think You Can Critic?
by Jane
Don’t tell anyone, it’s shocking, I know, that this level of sarcasm and what I like to call “wit” comes from someone with no training at all. Ever since I escaped my Year Twelve Drama final exam screaming “don’t ever make me watch a Baz Lurhman film again!” this reviewing has been all me, baby. Believe it or not (and, well, if you don’t believe it, you don’t have to go far back to find people in the comments not too impressed with me), I have, on occasion, gotten into a touch of trouble for stuff I’ve written on this blog. Sometimes warranted, sometimes not. Either way, I will always be proud of the infamy I carried in my Battle With The Bistro (C).
But because of this I thought maybe it was about time I learnt some proper legal stuff (my calling it “stuff” may give you an idea as to where I lie in my knowledge), and it was with that Day One of my Fringe started with me trundling off to Learn How To Be A Critic.
Together with a group of other aspiring young critics, I was taught:
- The best way to get interviews is to hang around after the show and try and nab the artists on their way home for a few quick questions.
- If this doesn’t work, accosting them in the corner of The Garden of Unearthly Delights is another good idea.
- Once you have this interview, it is a good idea to integrate your interview with your review of the show.
- Never write anything you wouldn’t say to someone’s face. Especially if this face is attached to someone with big, muscular arms.
- If you didn’t like a show, it’s probably just because it wasn’t to your taste. Thus, you should include in all “bad” reviews that you give something along the lines of “while elephants being forced to stand on one leg while hola-hooping and painting wasn’t something that I enjoyed, that’s probably just because I don’t enjoy animal torture. I’m sure there were many audience members who do appreciate such things: this show is for you!”, or, “although I could hear no lines, as we sat in a dark box for an hour, perhaps this is just in my opinion, because I can’t see in the dark nor do I have as good as hearing as dogs. I’m sure all audience members who are canines with see-in-the-dark glasses got a lot out of it.”
- Making comments like these will help you write a fair and balanced review, and stop you from getting in any legal trouble.
- If you are worried about legal problems, just use your “common sense” and everything will turn out okay.
Now, this blog post might be defamation. But my “common sense” tells me it’s not. So I guess it’s okay then! Look out for my use of these handy hints in my Fringe Reviews!
No Plain Jane 
OH.
MY.
GOD.
This one – If you didn’t like a show, it’s probably just because it wasn’t to your taste – particularly pisses me off.
Who was it giving the seminar/whatever? And did you have to pay for it?
Mindblowingly bad advice. Hilarious, though. But mindblowingly bad nonetheless.
I didn’t have to pay for it, although I did leave (paid) work early for it. I was supposed to write some Fringe reviews for them in return, but in light of these events, I won’t.
If I may weigh in here, we’re all just sharing opinions on these arts blogs, aren’t we? These reviews may influence others who are deciding which of (the hundreds of Fringe) shows to see. Surely the potential audience deserve to be informed about the quality of shows, especially when ticket prices are taken into account.
Sometimes, perhaps our opinions are expressed too bluntly or too tactfully. But put those semantics aside, all that matters to me as an arts blogger, reviewer and editor, and hell, even as a potential member of the audience, is the honesty of our work.
As an artist manager and theatre producer, I’m more than a little shocked at the encouragement to approach an artist after a performance to try to get an interview. I can think of nothing worse, or more unprofessional.
With the proliferation of “arts reviewers” who pop up during the festival season, it’s sad that this advice is being dealt by what most would assume is a trustworthy and professional source. Because there is no “criteria” for who can call themselves a reviewer (and I know you’ve dealt with that, Jane) offering opinion is one thing, but intelligent, informed, contextualised analysis is
quite another.
Artists and producers are taking financial, artistic, personal and sometimes even physical risks. The least a reviewer can do is respect their time and contact them to arrange an interview a day or so in advance.
Bad reviews happen, whatever… I’m not fussed about that. I’m a fan of work which polarises opinion and expect that sometimes it won’t tickle everyone’s fancy, it’s part of the fun, frankly.
But there is a difference between a bad review
and a review done badly, and it sounds like they were teaching how to do the latter.
Careful. ‘Honesty’ is no defence. (It didn’t save Leo Schofield!) Even if the honesty is delivered without spite.
As a general rule, it’s okay to say that Joan Sutherland sang like a strangled cat, but it’s not okay to say Joan’s incapable of singing well or not up to a role… though you might have a case if she’s singing Daughter of the Regiment when she’s old enough to be grandmother. 😀
When you blog, you need to be more careful than in print reviews. You’re swingin’ without a safety net.
C
I don’t think nabbing artists after their shows is a good idea and I agree that “offering opinion is one thing but delivering intelligent, informed analysis is quite another” – some reviewers just say “I don’t like musicals” when they are reviewing The Phantom of the Opera. It is very weird.