Collaborating Critics

We've been getting really good feedback about it. One organization wrote about it in their newsletter. At another show, someone came up to Don and told him he thought the exchange was some of the best, in-depth theater criticism he's seen locally for a long time.

I liked the discussion aspect of it--plus we had plenty of time to really think about the shows, given that we saw them over several months.

this is a really great idea! I can imagine a confluence of ideas happening like some sort of Criticpalozza!

Seriously though, criticism can be so sporadic and seems to be undertaken by freelancers more and more that it seems like great idea to get together and share ideas. I'll have to mull this one over some more as it strikes me as just tremendous concept!

Thanks Suzi! We really had a great deal of fun doing it and are already brainstorming ideas for our next collaboration. We didn't get a lot of comments on our blog, but we have heard people talking about it. The one theater (whose show hasn't closed yet) also quoted us extensively in a marketing piece that went out over e-mail to all their subscribers.

We really do have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to critics in this town. I've enjoyed every collaboration I've been able to do so far. Back in December, I did a radio show with a fellow critic where we looked at the year in review. A few months before that, I was on a symposium of critics at the local university. That one was fun because the audience (including the actors who came out after the performance of the huge cast show) was able to ask questions, and they did!

I loved the Hedwig review! Wasn't that an amazing show? I love how you brought in both a music and a theater person to do it.

All of these things, I think, can make coverage more interesting to readers.

Bridgette, this is the coolest damn idea. We don't have a ton o' critics (two? maybe three for the daily and five of us [two staffers, including me, and three freelancers] for my paper), but this is just, like, such a great idea. Of course, we don't get that kind of overlap in Eugene although the Oregon Shakespeare Fest did On the Razzle last year, and a community theater company in Eugene has it right now, but those are not really comparable because of the vast disparities in funding and professional experience.

When the other arts editor and I both attended a Hedwig production here (she's the popular music person, which was kind of important ... ), we did a sort of IM-like dialogue as our review. A bit stilted since IM certainly doesn't use full sentences, but fun. Here 'tis, should you want to read.

I've wanted a "theater summit" for a while, but recent events (about which I will post on Monday) have gotten in the way. Still, I don't quite know what to do about getting the daily folks involved. There's a fulltime "high arts" guy, whose beat closely matches mine, and there are the freelance reviewers. I think the daily emphasizes, er, the positive in its reviews, and I tend to be ... one of the theaters' general manager described me today as "honest." But it would be good if we could meet each other and describe to our (admittedly small) audiences why and how we do what we do. At least I think it would be good. As in, "This is what I look for as a theater critic and why I think it matters." Lunchtime chat sounds like a great place for that!

I just got back from the second night of really long plays. Both of them had first acts that lasted around 70 minutes, but one was agonizingly long, and the other only grew tedious at the very end. I long for more people to talk to about why. Yes, even other critics. (After we post our separate reviews.)

Thanks, Bridgette, for great ideas. — Suzi