tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829734.post3397288932335378972..comments2024-03-28T00:18:42.009-04:00Comments on The Wicked Stage: Who Needs Critics?Rob Weinert-Kendthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04015688507553252146noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829734.post-41778026751631122902013-05-02T20:25:53.309-04:002013-05-02T20:25:53.309-04:00I think the core problem is the generally poor qua...I think the core problem is the generally poor quality of critical writing generally. Perhaps online publishing, which allows for more space and in depth writing, will help. I observe that generally those doing the criicism are often much less trained, less prepared, and generally less competant than those who are doing the theater. Perhaps every review online could ask for alternate opinions or comments like this, which would help to bring out more facets of a production. When an exceptioal critical voice (like new howlround critic Aleandra Bonifield) comes along, the writing and insights are so much more illuminationg and insightful than the average review that it shows what is generally lacking. If those doing the criticism would engage the Artistic Director or director of a production, or engage an actor in a significant role, a much more informed discussion might occur. This would be a major change and, I think possibly, a significant step forward in making the writing of theatrical criticism vibrant, engaging and relevant again.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829734.post-47288154976287472562013-05-02T17:10:37.486-04:002013-05-02T17:10:37.486-04:00I like the way you're thinking about this prob...I like the way you're thinking about this problem. I'm not sure mainstream media review writing as it is practiced now is worth saving. Adapt or die? The overseers of those sites and publications have voted for the latter, and it's hard to blame them, for the reasons you offer.<br /><br />Is there demand for longer form, more writerly and ambitious, writing about locally produced arts? I certainly hope so, but I wish I had more evidence. Those essays are hard to write, and at this point writing them is an almost entirely speculative enterprise. Even more difficult: Integrating the full internet arsenal into a longer response (audio, video, social media, graphics, etc.).<br /><br />One thing that would help? If the writers themselves talked about the reviews/essays of their peers... What forms, approaches, voices seem to be working? Which ones give us pleasure, incite us to action, lead us to thoughts we wouldn't have had otherwise, expand our knowledge? We need to criticize criticism, reflect on our own work, try something new...<br /><br /><br /><br />Barry Johnsonhttp://www.orartswatch.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829734.post-66910629689524720102013-05-02T16:31:51.437-04:002013-05-02T16:31:51.437-04:00I find reviews immensely helpful. I live in the mi...I find reviews immensely helpful. I live in the middle of the US, so most of the reviews I read are for productions I won't see. But I learn a lot about what works and doesn't work in productions through the critical matter; I learn about what's happening currently in theatre through the descriptive matter. For those of us whose access to quality theatre is limited by geography, reviews are a valuable resource.kristajomillerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13946469985634020289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829734.post-83298883918428361602013-04-09T19:20:24.037-04:002013-04-09T19:20:24.037-04:00Blowing my own trumpet here: but Theatre Notes mig...Blowing my own trumpet here: but <a href="http://theatrenotes.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow">Theatre Notes</a> might be a model of the kind of criticism you're talking about. It was a blog that explicitly took theatre seriously as a contemporary artform. As a critic, I saw myself as a part of the community of people who attended and made theatre in Australia, although, like that community, its focus was international as well as local. TN was primarily a critical blog, focused on analysis and response, and consciously refused the consumer-guide model of reviewing; I attempted to place theatre in its cultural, political and social contexts, and sought to open discussion about theatre in all sorts of ways, exploiting the dialogic nature of the internet. It attracted a loyal readership. Even though I closed it last December after eight years, leaving it as an archive, TN is still getting between 800-1000 visits a day. Not a lot by stellar internet standards, but not to sneezed at, given its niche audience. And yes, I closed it, but that's another story...Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.com