Friday, March 26, 2010
My plan today was to think about reviews.
But I'm tired.
I did the final revision of the script, sent it off to my agent, and to someone who might possibly translate the play into Japanese, gave each cast member a copy of the published text (Nick Hern Books) saw the show, had some lovely conversations afterwards.
And now I'm tired.
So what I have to say about reviews must wait.
And there are so many of them!
Not just the press, but the online ones, too.
It's sad that so many of the online ones mimic the worst aspect of traditional press one - written in haste, without giving themselves the time and the space to think in depth, and - worst of all - aping the ridiculous and arbitrary star rating system.
But the whole point of writing online in that it gives you the opportunity to do something different.
I stumbled across one that does:
http://glasgowtheatre.blogspot.com/2010/03/every-one.html
and I would commend it.
The remarkable thing about this show, though, has been that I have received so much positive response from all kinds of different sources.
Sometimes from people writing out of the blue.
Like this one:
"Dear Jo Clifford,
I work at Samuel French's Theatre Bookshop and I read your play Every One today. I was just contacting you really to say thank you very much for writing such a great and moving play. I read the new plays when they come in because I like to know what we have in the shop but yours is the only one I have read that has provoked any kind of reaction in me or moved me so much.
I have only read the play so have not had the fortune of seeing it performed so can only imagine the staging and impact it must have.
After reading it I just felt I had to contact you, it had that much of an effect on me.
So once again, thank you "
That means more than all the five star reviews in the world.
But I'm tired.
I did the final revision of the script, sent it off to my agent, and to someone who might possibly translate the play into Japanese, gave each cast member a copy of the published text (Nick Hern Books) saw the show, had some lovely conversations afterwards.
And now I'm tired.
So what I have to say about reviews must wait.
And there are so many of them!
Not just the press, but the online ones, too.
It's sad that so many of the online ones mimic the worst aspect of traditional press one - written in haste, without giving themselves the time and the space to think in depth, and - worst of all - aping the ridiculous and arbitrary star rating system.
But the whole point of writing online in that it gives you the opportunity to do something different.
I stumbled across one that does:
http://glasgowtheatre.blogspot.com/2010/03/every-one.html
and I would commend it.
The remarkable thing about this show, though, has been that I have received so much positive response from all kinds of different sources.
Sometimes from people writing out of the blue.
Like this one:
"Dear Jo Clifford,
I work at Samuel French's Theatre Bookshop and I read your play Every One today. I was just contacting you really to say thank you very much for writing such a great and moving play. I read the new plays when they come in because I like to know what we have in the shop but yours is the only one I have read that has provoked any kind of reaction in me or moved me so much.
I have only read the play so have not had the fortune of seeing it performed so can only imagine the staging and impact it must have.
After reading it I just felt I had to contact you, it had that much of an effect on me.
So once again, thank you "
That means more than all the five star reviews in the world.
Labels: reviews
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