Who I Am Writing For

Who are my reviews for? It's a tricky question with even trickier answers, and I reevaluate them almost every time I write. How you can complain about a play that the audience likes? That's another part of the same question.

Reviewers are invited for opening nights, which are often filled with friends and family of the people who put on the show. At NCRT the theatre community gathers--it's also usually the night when the actors and others who've worked on the show are the beneficiaries of the concession money--and it's a celebration. In the case of The Nerd, they would also be saying goodbye to Dmitry and Tammy Tokarsky (he played the central role, she designed costumes) who are leaving the area, and welcoming Queena Isadora DeLany (she played Tansy, the love interest) who is new to the area and its community theatre.

But as an audience, it is different from the ones that will follow. I saw this play with the next night audience, a benefit for public schools; the night after that was for mediation services, two very worthy causes I support. Both of these instances--the theatre community gathering, and people in the community gathering to support something that benefits the community--exemplify another aspect of what community theatre is all about. I recognize and honor this. In fact, I love it. But my job isn't to write about that, at least not every time out.

Just as I keep the audiences in mind, I keep in mind that people who put on these plays do so at some sacrifice and work hard (they also have fun) and that they have egos and feelings. I believe in supporting the theatres as institutions as well as being fair to them and to specific productions.

 But in the end I am not writing primarily for the theatres, the participants in a production, and not even for the audiences, as such. My primary responsibility is to write for the readers of the North Coast Journal. Some of them will have seen the play, others have yet to see it, and some will never see it. My job is to give them something interesting to read, and I do that out of my own observations, experiences, predilections and point of view.

I recognize that people who go to plays aren't necessarily interested in where the play fits into local theatre history or comedies of the 20th century--they're out for a reasonably good time on a night out. But some of those people, as well as others who may or may not see the play, are interested in reading more about the play, the playwright, etc. They may be interested in a different point of view on what they saw. Fortunately here, they have the opportunity to get several points of view in print and on line. To me, that's all part of the experience of theatre in a community that values its theatre.

Some, perhaps many people within the theatre community basically understand this, and some even feel that their work is more honored by honest and serious consideration than by constant praise. At least some have told me as much privately.

And although people may use reviews to decide whether or not to attend a show, I very seldom suggest that they not see something. I hope that they are smart and confident enough to seek various points of view, and especially to go to the theatre and decide for themselves.