To Trust A Blogger, Or Not To Trust A Blogger...
There appears to be a growing concern over the rise in critics who are willing to put together criticism on theatre and the arts. Most notable is the rise in online content which has sprung up through the natural progression of the civilian journalist, the everyday person expressing their opinions on the internet. This tends to fall under the title of ‘bloggers’ – one that I have been labeled with for many months now.
The rise of the bloggers has been noted as the death of the newspaper, where even the top dogs of the industry have a word to say about these critics – out of fear. In the last two weeks there has been notable debate over the validation of such bloggers critically reviewing shows and giving out star ratings, something which The Scotsman was keen to state that “every show has been given a four- or five-star rating” in Edinburgh this year, mostly due to unknown reviewers casting five star critiques.
All of this leaves me somewhat down heartened and questioning the value of what I write.
I began this website in June 2009 by writing a review of the Donmar’s Hamlet starring Jude Law. I’d been a fan of writing about my personal life online as an outlet for my hormonally charged teenage years for five years, keeping a blog. I had dabbled in writing for theatre – another outlet for my creativity, however I gave all this up when initially going to drama school, and focusing on practical based theatre. Back in June last year I felt a desire to write once more, and with Twitter entering my life fueling me with questions and a feeling of boredom of the same critics writing reviews for theatre (the white middle class men), I started A Younger Theatre.
It has been a long journey – but where am I now? Has it even been worth the past years writing?
You’ll note the slight disdain in my words. Please excuse me, but upon reading articles titled “Five stars in their eyes: can you trust unpaid theatre critics” in the Guardian yesterday, I am left deflated.
It is not that I have fallen at the hurdle of criticism – but rather being left sour at the thought that people take delight in pulling apart the sort of work (yes, I am saying work), that unpaid critics such as myself endeavor to do. I have previously questioned my role as a young critic in an article entitled ‘Does Age Matter‘, questioning if at the age of 21, I could express a just and critical response to theatre as someone who has years of experience in reviewing.
A year later, I am questioning the same again.
I posed the question on Twitter as I connect with vast number of theatre professionals who I trust would answer realistically to me.
Honest Question: Should I be writing reviews on theatre/shows? I’m not a professional critic, are my thoughts valid?
The response received shows both professional journalists/critics, bloggers, and theatre professionals:
You become a ‘professional’ critic by doing it. The Big Names all started somewhere. Of course your views are valid. (@SusanElkinJourn)
Its not all as simple as that, is it. I wasn’t being paid for anything when I started. Don’t see fee as what gives authority. (@matttruman)
Yes & yes! The views of non-critics are as important as the views of critics as most people who go to shows aren’t critics either! (@lorelei_)
If you think your opinion is worth something, then it is. You’re not forcing other people to read… (@OughtToBeClowns)
Your thoughts are no more or less valid than a ‘pro critic’. Theirs aren’t more authoritative because they get paid for it! (@RichmondTheatre)
If you don’t review now, how will you ever get to be ‘professional’ which tends to be qualified by time/longevity + experience? (@CharliePayne)
(You can read more responses by clicking here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here)
Whilst my initial question of validation of my own opinions was perhaps not quite the right phrasing I had intended the responses cover some of the issues and questions I have been asking myself.
At what point does a critic become professional? As Susan Elkin of The Stage points out you ‘become a professional critic by doing it’ – but equally numerous responses suggest that you shouldn’t ‘see fee as what gives authority’.
Whilst this might be seen as a short ego boost for myself and what I strive to do, it honestly is not. It raises fundermental questions around why I go and see so much theatre and choose to write about it. Whilst I enjoy a free ticket to shows, I attend within my own personal time, I respond to the shows in more of my own spare time. I do not get paid to write, I write because I can, but most important I write because I want to.
Can you trust what I write?
The answer is dependant upon individual opinion. The language I use is not always grammatically correct, and I certainly don’t proclaim to have a wide vocabularlly. I don’t have the depth of knowledge that Michael Billington shares in his book State of the Nation, but what I do have is passion. I love theatre. I choose to sit, watch and write about it because I love the feeling that I can write something which people (I hope) can respond to.
Blogs are wonderful at being able to start a dialogue around matters. I actively seek responses upon what I write. I even hope that people take the time to comment and to engage with others that also comment. My writing may not always be as carefully constructed as the Cambridge and Oxford bound graduates of English Literature, but by god I write from a passion that makes everyday of my life worth living. If I’m seeing a childrens puppetry show, a west-end musical, or off to a strangers flat in Hackney for the sake of theatre – I do it willingly.
Whilst I haven’t fully answered my questions, and I am certain I will return to them time and time again, it does give me hope that I write for a purpose and that it is appreciated.
I am a human, I am a blogger, and I hope someone that people can look to for honest responses to theatre without biased opinions and money driven intentions. Can you trust me? Yes, I think so.
Image by Cox & Forkum.
September 3rd, 2010 at 11:08 am
Beautifully written & very thoughtful piece, Jake. Thanks for sharing it. Look forward to reading more of your reviews for many years to come.
September 3rd, 2010 at 11:55 am
A very well written article Jake. I personally think your reviews are very informative (way better than I could hope to produce) and coming from a younger perspective means that you can play a role in encouraging more younger people into the theatre to see shows you think they would like as you know what young people look for.
I will continue to read the reviews on A Younger Theatre for a long time to come
September 3rd, 2010 at 12:01 pm
I think most of the tweets have made my point for me. A reviewer gains credibility over time – if you publish lots of reviews that I agree with, in the future i’ll trust the review when deciding what to watch.
If you were paid by the guardian you get credibility much quicker as you are trusted with their reputation. But credibility does not just come from payment.
If a show puts a quote from a reviewer i’ve never heard of on their poster, it’s not going to affect my decision on whether to see a show.
September 3rd, 2010 at 2:39 pm
I think more could be said about the increasing role of bloggers in today’s reviewing – the defining example will probably always be the critical response to ‘Love Never Dies’ (and @westendwhingers’ nickname for it), and how seriously it was taken; the reality, however, is that bloggers are now an important source of reviews for shows, and many are respected for doing so. (If I want to read about a play, I normally check this site and @westendwhingers, as I know that the reviews on here are consistently reliable, trustworthy and well-written).
One advantage of bloggers reviewing shows is that they can often cover shows which mainstream reviewers might overlook, eg fringe and some off-West End shows.
It’s also important to note that certainly within dance, a large number of the respected and established reviewers are not paid for reviewing, however this does not diminish their reputation. Also, having hired both paid and unpaid reviewers, I have noticed more professionalism and higher quality reviews from the unpaid critics, though that could just be due to bad luck with the paid critics!
It’s frustrating that the Edinburgh reviews have discredited the value of reviews and honest impartial feedback with handing out gratuitous praise and stars – undeserved in more than a few cases! Although it’s valid to question the authority of certain reviewers (eg, I once read a review of Jasmin Vardimon’s ‘Yesterday’ (a 10-year retrospective) which grudgingly decided she might just have a future as a choreographer) – you can measure your worth as a reviewer by how respected your reviews are, your growing reputation as a reviewer, and of course by the number of visitors to this site.
As I’ve often mentioned, I always need to recruit quite a few reviewers for each of our shows, and I firmly believe that the quality of one’s reviews are of far more value than one’s experience. After all, those are the reviewers people will turn to in the future!
October 28th, 2010 at 9:33 pm
I definitely think that if you have a good head for theatre then of course you should continue to write reviews. I mean let’s face it, would someone with no clue about theatre bother wasting their time to write about it? Most of the blogs I’ve read have presented sound reviews and opinions, probably because those people started the blogs out of a love of, and an understanding for, the theatre. As for the professional/non-professional debate, even the review of a professional critic, however respected, is still an opinion and can be disagreed with. The only thing that makes a person professional is them getting paid for their work, in my opinion.
Keep writing!