This is not a review...it's a question.
Twelve creatives, critics and industry powerhouses (and me) respond to the question: 'What is 'theatre reviewing' to you?'
‘I read reviews, and always have, to enter into a dialogue with the medium I love - whether that be to learn about shows I haven’t or can’t see, to argue about shows I have, to get perspective, to disagree, to see differently. For me, theatre criticism is a grappling, an extension of that thing we all do in the foyer and on the tram home, a contextualisation. Not a stamp or judgement but a way of carrying the conversation forward.’
- Tim Byrne
Critic |The Guardian | Australian Book Review |
You won’t be able to find the first theatre review I ever published, but I can tell you it was for a performance of Jane Austen’s ‘Persuasion’ at a small church in Sydney five years ago. I can tell you that it was unpaid, and that I was in theatre at the time (a twenty three-year-old ‘performer’ drawn to reviewing by the promise of a free ticket). I was also a teacher and a Masters student with a lot of opinions and an earnest belief in the power of art. I can tell you it was raining when I took two selfies outside the theatre beforehand (a requirement for this particular publication). I can’t tell you much about the production itself; I have no idea who was in it or who directed it. But I can tell you about one moment in the show when an actor walked silently on stage in a white dress with a pink chiffon train, stood under a pale blue spotlight and tilted her head up as if to catch the rain. The sound of a heavy downpour was popping with static when the blue light caught her tear-filled eyes. Then, a blackout. I remember gasping dramatically (in a quaint Austenian kind of way) and scrawling ‘Blackout, Blue Light, LOVE’ into my notebook (a brown Typo purchase with ‘Poetry Whore’ emblazoned on the front) before heading home. I gave the show three stars and wrote my review in Comic Sans; my two dead-eyed selfies waiting to greet my reader at the end.
‘For me, it is an honour to provide thoughtful critique with eloquence and heart while also documenting a moment in time.’
- Stephanie Chin
Editor | Lilithia Reviews |
Twelve hours later and this particular site has published my 1000-word review and posted it on their Instagram page (#theatresydney #janeausten #stars). I see my situationship has liked the post. I see that I’ve misspelled an actor’s name and that I’ve forgotten to mention the director. I rewrite the review twice just to get my daily exercise in futility in. And with every rewrite I find myself lingering on my description of one moment: ‘Blackout, Blue light, LOVE’.
‘Reviewing is a reflection of work in the current zeitgeist. it is neither good, bad, or needed, but it is a way to put up a structural beam around something and say that yes, this does live here.’
- Jack Cowell
Musician | Music Review Editor | Big Issue | Swandream (2020) |
It’s a failed exercise to try and recall a theatrical experience. This isn’t a review of a book or a film. The show is over once the curtain has fallen - the moment of ‘Blackout, Blue Light, LOVE’-transcendence existed in a blackout for a moment before it was lost forever. This is part of the joy of theatre, and reviewers drag it along with them into their criticism. The memory of that production of ‘Persuasion’ is also the memory of my attempts to write about it, to understand it, to recreate the feeling of it.
In one sentence I recognise the conversation I had with my mate in the lobby afterwards. In another I see a subtle nod to the first time I read Austen’s novel at fourteen. Fuck, I see a misplaced comma. Reading, I think my criticism of the love interest is a bit too critical or my discussion of the set not critical enough. In three stars and 1000 words, I think I’ve failed completely. But I also have no idea what success looks like.
Two years later and this site loses their domain name and with it all the reviews it had posted (thousands by that point). To me, it’s one final nod to the near-existential transience of theatre and theatre reviewing, or perhaps a reminder of its shared pointlessness and instability. I wonder where the notebook from that night is now.
‘Reviewing is an art form just as the craft of acting (and all it entails) is an art form. Neither should deride, condescend, subjugate or disrespect. Each has a job to do and the aim of each should be to work with humility, honesty, and a deep and full understanding of which they speak.’
- Kris Weber
Editor | Theatre Matters |While any review is subjective and made up of many factors and
components, a review should inform, be honest and be fair.’- Rohan Shearn
Managing Editor | Australian Arts Review |
Earlier this year a performer reposted my review for Theatre Matters on their Instagram with a caption: ’feeling seen’. I had used their correct pronouns while describing ‘their commitment to many of the show’s best comedic, and even dramatic, moments’. It was a three star review. I was unnamed in their post.
Soon after and a well-known comedian posted my Time Out review on their account (along with a number of other five-star reviews) with the caption: ‘Have you got your tix yet?…#melbournecomedyfest #standupcomedy #reviews’. I see their post and wonder if the serotonin it gives me is a problem; a chemical high from an unhelpful idea of the capital ‘c’ Critic: the purveyor of value, ruler of culture. I comment under the post with something simple and humble: ‘Xxxxx’. The stars I’d chosen to give their show quickly appear on their poster outside Melbourne’s Art Centre. My opinion is up in lights. Not that I’m named or quoted. It’s four stars and the publication they came from. But those four stars were my decision, so maybe that’s something.
I send a photo of the poster to my mum. ‘Who’s Ruben Kaye?’, she replies.
‘To me, reviewing is a chance to open up a broader conversation and leave an audience curious to see a piece of theatre.’
- Almitra Mavalvala
Theatre Maker | Writer | Blacklisted (2022) | SAARI'…Reviews have a place in the theatre and likely always will, but I think reviewers have a responsibility to do the best they can to help support our theatrical culture and community, even if they don't enjoy a particular production. And that needs to be taken seriously. We're all working together to create powerful shared experiences. We need to hold each other up in order to do that to the best of our abilities.’
- Ashley Taylor Tickell
Owner | Producer | Artistic Director at Salty Theatre
The editor of Australian Arts Review once received a long email, and then a phone call requesting that a review of mine be taken down. It was not a favourable review (read it here if you want), and this made it harmful and dangerous. What about funding applications, this person asked. What will this review mean for the prospect of a regional tour? That same week and another reviewer received similar attacks over their two-star review. This year, this particular production returned with considerable changes. Its season sold out - the first stop on its national tour.
‘Sometimes bullying is good. Not in like a “laugh at a kid for having toilet paper on his shoe”-way but, more in like a “Can we make this better?”-way … Also obviously good reviews mean everything and bad reviews mean NOTHING!!! And I’ve always said that!’
- Mel O’Brien
Theatre Maker | High Pony (2023) | Shit-Wrecked (2022) |
Hungover on a sleeping bag shovelling down salt and vinegar peanuts, a stranger tells me that ‘no one builds statues for critics’ after describing a particularly biting two-star review they had received. Later that week and I’m told by another stranger in a theatre lobby that they hated this person’s show but will see it again when it comes back for Melbourne Fringe.
‘Reviews to performers are like those bitchy popular girls in high school; you hate them fiercely, but desperately need their attention.’
- Brittanie Shipway
Playwright | Performer | Rolling Vietnam (2023) | The Lovers (2022) |
Senser (2022) | A Letter to Molly (2022) |
Two months ago, Bell Shakespeare made an Instagram post, and statement calling out a reviewer’s two-star review of their production of Macbeth. The organisation, Stage A Change posted a follow-up on their profile discussing micro-aggressions in theatre criticism. I see this reviewer walk past the CEO of Bell Shakespeare at opening night of another production two days later and talk about it with my housemate who has just received a two-star review for their Comedy Festival show from a reviewer flown in from the UK specifically to cover the festival.
Earlier this year, the Albanese government published ‘Revive’: a five year plan to ‘renew and revive Australia’s arts, entertainment and cultural sector’. Last week, ABC abolished its standalone arts team for the first time in its history. Yesterday, dancers at the Australian Ballet called for a strike action against the company while casual workers at the University of Melbourne conducted their second strike action this year for fair pay. Meanwhile, a theatre company quoted a scathing review of mine with some well-placed ellipses to make their production look good before I received an email from my landlord notifying me of a proposed 44% rent increase.
This week I sent out three invoices to three different publications for past reviews and two emails following up on two invoices that had not been paid yet. In two years, the payment rate for each review has not changed.
‘Theatre reviewing is a concerted attempt (if done well) to canvass the breadth and depth of live performance in this country, from the flagship state companies, to the small independent outfits. It's an attempt to critically engage with a variety of voices, themes and theatrical styles in an inclusive manner. Which means, ideally, that there is a range of diverse reviewers tasked to do the job.’
- Thuy On
Critic | Poet | Reviews Editor, ArtsHub Reviews |‘Theatre reviewing is like a dating service. It’s a process by which the critc (a human with biases and opinions and perspective) uses what they know about art and their audiences (who are just as human and biased and potentially diverse) to figure out which pairing is gonna have a great time together. It’s not about ignoring or putting aside biases, it’s about an awareness of the way they impact your match making.’
- Cessalee Stovall
Founder | Stage a Change |
How do we create a diverse and rigorous critical landscape in Australian theatre reviewing? What does an alternative to the solitary critic look like? What do reviewers owe their readers, the actors of the productions they review, the publications they write for, or the Australian Taxation Office? What do reviewers owe themselves or the form of reviewing itself?
This week I saw a show first staged in 1914. It was slow, poorly lit and fantastic. I also stuck a slice of sponge cake on someone’s near-naked body while they spoke about their Catholic upbringing, butt sex and the Eucharist. Then I entered two ticket lotteries and tried to unlock cheap rush tickets for three musicals before I watched a young student of mine discuss gender and queerness with their mum for one hour to a full house.
Criticism is a mode of questioning. It is a conversation motivated by critical enquiry; an attempt to connect the dynamic mix of elements that go into making and experiencing art with the support of personal, historical and cultural knowledge. It is electric and it is also meaningless and ridiculous, painful and underpaid; boring, lonely and threatened. It is a scream in a theatre lobby or a yawn during bows. It’s five stars cutting your hand up as you throw them at the feet of another jukebox musical, or a long walk to the train station talking shit and loving it. It’s the space between a comma and the next thought where the blue light hits the tearful eyes of an actor front stage before a blackout. Most importantly, it is an artform that is capable of doing more - offering, questioning, and accomplishing more than it is currently. If this newsletter seeks out to accomplish anything it’s this - to do more with theatre criticism. To ask more of it.
‘Art is made to be talked about. That's half the pleasure of the experience, and talking about what we've witnessed reveals as much about ourselves as about the work itself. The best reviews are conversation starters - not verdicts, but replies, stoking our collective engagement with the work.’
- Mark Pritchard
Dramaturg | Theatremaker | Senior Arts Programmer Darebin Arts |
Centre for Dramaturgy and Curation |‘Reviewing is a repository of people’s questions, extracted meanings, provocations, and points of connection / disconnection based off of their personal experience of a piece of art. Its vitality lies in the way it sparks conversations about a work, and holds us all accountable to high standards of dramaturgical rigour and performance.’
- Miranda Middleton
Director | Playwright | Dramaturg | Paper Stars (2023) | Pear Shaped
(2023) |