Tag: reviews

Greenroom’s reviews of Queensland theatre

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World Theatre Day 2012

About an hour ago I got a tweet from a far-distant theatre mate, Travis Bedard in Austin, Texas. The 50th annual celebration of World Theatre Day is rolling round the globe as I tap away, and the North Americans and the Brits are starting to celebrate. Australia and New Zealand have marked the day in various ways today but, varying time zones being what they are, it means we get to go on enjoying the good wishes and thoughts about theatre for quite a while longer.

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Like me, the other tweeters will understand what Travis means by ‘Happy Anniversary.’ This little band got together back in 2009 to kick off interest locally in what was, at the time, a fairly moribund day – as far as wider awareness was concerned – which had been set up by the International Theatre Institute back in the 1960s. All of us on the list are theatre-lovers and makers and geeks. We also live in Australia and Canada and the US.  At the time we had well and truly got the whole point of social media, and thought it was worth trying to spread the word about the day using platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and blogs. And so, dear reader, we did.

Much to our delight back then, the whole thing got picked up by groups, individuals, and even the Mayor of Chicago that year, all of whom came to a big theatre party on March 27th. The day was marked in various ways, but almost always included a reading of the World Theatre Day address which, each year, is produced by a theatre luminary. This year it’s John Malkovich’s turn, and you can read it and lots more about WTD on the ITI website.

Since 2009 social media have gone into overdrive, so it wasn’t surprising this morning to find so many references to it across all of the platforms.

Earlier today I flipped back to the original post I wrote back then as reflection on how we did it all. Ah, memories …

And here’s the little video I made as the clock turned over to midnight on 27th March, 2009. We were celebrating at the after party for That Face which had opened for QTC that evening.

As I woke this morning to so many well wishes in the Twitter stream and on Facebook it occurred to me that maybe we happy little band had actually done something to raise awareness of a day that’s worth celebrating.

So, wherever you are in the world today, if you have been touched by theatre in some way, take a moment to reflect on the difference it has made to your life.

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The Matilda Awards: the next day and an idea …

Update the day after the next day: Here’s an example of the kind of generosity that this community engenders. A few hours after the post was published yesterday, Greenroom received this from the talented guys at Markwell Presents.I passed on the news this morning to Rosemary Walker, the Matilda Awards’ publicist. She was delighted to hear it! Thanks Markwell!

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Last night was my first-ever attendance at Brisbane’s annual Matilda Awards, and what a splendid night it was in a full-house at the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts in the Valley. ‘Full as a lovebird’s egg’ with warmth, respect, and love for the work and for the people in the local industry who make it. The evening was all rather classy and fun, and delightfully done.

So, sterling silver kudos to the Matilda committee for their work on behalf of Brisbane’s theatre industry. 25 years and going strong!

I’ve had a thought since about something that the Matilda’s team of superb volunteers might consider for next year – yes, we are all critics, but this is constructive stuff. Whilst a guest speaker is a nice idea (and, last night, the lovely John Batchelor did a splendid job of it), I’d love to see a presentation-review of the year past – perhaps introduced by a special guest – one that showed highlights and which keyed some things worth remembering. More than one person I spoke to last night confirmed how wonderful the annual gathering afforded by the Matildas is to all of us, and how valuable. It really is the only time in the year we come together in celebration of our work.

Now the night rightly focusses on particular people and productions, but no less important things like new artistic appointments or world-beating innovations are worth mentioning, recalling, and celebrating. Brisbane had these in 2011. Do you know what I’m referring to? There would also be the opportunity to remember the work and the legacy of those we have lost during the year.

There’s a ton of visual material to call on, and the talent to script and media-produce. That big screen is just dying for it – 10 minutes absolute tops. What do you think? Let the committee know via their page if you have ideas. I got the distinct impression talking to several of the committee last night that they would be wide open to suggestions. I have no doubt they would also welcome some help.

And, of course, congratulations once again to all the nominees and the winners. Oh, and it was good to see the Matildas doing such a good job live-tweeting the ceremony (complete with hashtags) last night!

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Plagiarism 101

Illustration for Cheating
Image via Wikipedia

There’s a little bit of buzz on a local Facebook theatre network right now about plagiarism – always a dirty word whether in academic or any other circles, really.

What constitutes general or ‘public domain’ knowledge or usage in a writer’s work is sometimes tricky to determine, especially when a genuinely-original phrase starts appearing all over the place as part of the vernacular. Remember the one, ‘inland tsunami’ with reference to the recent Toowoomba disaster? I do, and I recall clearly the first time I heard it – in a media interview with Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson on the day. But did he originate it?  Like anthropologists, linguists love the game of tracking back to origins. As to claiming ownership of language, well this can be taken to stupid lengths when big corporations try to copyright a phrase or a word. However …

There are other times when it is blindingly clear that not just a random collection of words but a specific idea expressed in a phrase has been lifted and used by another as their own – as happened a week or so ago when an extract from one of Greenroom’s posts was taken and used on another site without attribution.  No names, no pack-drill at this stage, but we will be keeping an eye out for any repeats. By the way, we were not the only ones who noticed this bit of pilfering. I know I was robbed because the phrase in question really was created by me to make a particular point in the article. I remember thinking at the time that it was rather clever; obviously the other reviewer did too!  Now, as far as that other reviewer was concerned it would have been so easy to attribute the quote with a hotlink back to our site (a bit of link love) or in some other way, but it didn’t happen. So, what do I concur from that reviewer and that site: bad manners, questionable ethics and plagiarism aka intellectual dishonesty.

Come on fellow theatre writers, play fair! And, if you run a website, appoint an editor and ask your reviewers to sign off on their work as original before publishing. We’re all in this together.

And disclaimers, if required, are a sign of professional practice. That is all.

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On criticism …

I’ve been reading a lot lately about professional theatre criticism.  The articles have been by critics themselves, artists who are the subject of said critics’ writings, and audience members. I’ve been greatly moved by a couple of pieces, one from an obituary on the respected and, from what you read, greatly liked API drama critic Michael Kuchwara who died recently, aged 63 after a professional lifetime of play reviewing.  The other was from Mark Mordue, this year’s winner of Australia’s Pascall Prize for critical writing.

It’s an understatement to say that critics aren’t particularly well regarded by those they criticise; they never have been since their inception 200 or so years ago.  Nowadays, however, it’s often for a reason you might not at first appreciate.

Recently I was in conversation with several professional theatre colleagues who were more upset by the lack of  ‘good reviewers’ than by the ignorance, dismissal, or the brickbats that come their way.  As one said to me, ‘As much as I don’t like a bad notice, if it’s from a reviewer I respect, it’s not half as bad as when it’s one from someone who doesn’t have a clue about the theatre, or who uses his or her position to show off.’  Respecting the enemy is perfectly possible, of course, and if we must think of critics in this way, then let them be the best enemies around.

One of Kuchwara’s colleagues said this about him

He was candid about stunners and stinkers he saw, but never gushy or mean. And his affection for the theater and for audiences infused every review.

He could also write well, and he knew his theatre. I like very much the phrase about being candid but never gushy or mean. Coming hot on the heels of that absolute must – knowing how theatre works – these other qualities make up a ‘good reviewer,’ are what garner respect from arts colleagues, and are finally, what constitute the ‘good enemy.’ Continue reading “On criticism …”

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Poll Results: overall, how do you rate the quality of play-reviewing in your locale?

Not a day goes by without someone, somewhere grinding their axe on a theatre production.  This can be in print or more recently, in online criticism. Equally, theatre workers diss the critics, especially when their production has been less than favourably treated.

The issue of the quality of play reviewing is of sufficient interest we would have thought, to garner some commentary.  However, this poll on the quality of theatre criticism wasn’t well responded to in terms of numbers, and we wonder whether or not there is a general malaise or simple disinterest (by this small – but niche – readership at least) about the issue.  It also opens up another poll which we’ll release soon; this one on what makes for a good piece of theatre criticism.  But to the results of this poll …

Clearly the quality of play reviewing varies here in Australia and elsewhere, and the results show this; perhaps this wasn’t a good option to put – seems far too obvious.  No respondent thought the overall standard to be ‘Excellent,’ but a quarter of all respondents thought the quality of play reviewing in their locale to be  ‘Awful.’

One comment: Pandering, uncritical and written as if the “critic” is looking for friends

Here are the results