33 replies to this topic

[Lynette]

This remark, coming from a global moderator (!!!?), is intrusive, quite out of order, quite unbelievable and unprofessional. I am not "coming from" anywhere. If I thought TMG was a bad play I would certainly not hesitate to voice my opinion. I am neither English nor do I live in that country on a regular basis and will therefore not be able to keep posting reviews about other plays often. I don't see a reason to post a review if the general tendency of opinion coincides with mine. This site is about discussion with other theatre goers and that's what I'm doing.

In this case there seems to be a stark contrast between some critic's opinions and those of viewers. A lot of critics have brushed the play off while most viewers - including on other, perhaps more professional, sites - said they thought the play was funny.

Gordina

I was simply trying to imply that you were connected with the production because of your fierce defence of it. If I am wrong on this, then please accept my apology and I do hope you can go to other stuff in the UK and post reviews.

[Laughingmonsta]

As has been said many times before Guest postings are taken with a pinch of Salt why not register and people will more likely take you seriously about your POV

[Backdrifter]

to those people who think this is the "worst play they have seen in years" and so on and so forth: Go ahead, write your own plays, and if they are good enough to start with they may be accepted for performance onstage. Then let's see how you fare. Anybody thinking up a plot already?

You don't need to sound so combative. People should be free to voice their dislike of a play without being challenged to write and stage their own one! Just as you're free to post about how much you did like it. I'm glad to see people using the fringe/off-West End forum, it's sadly very under-populated, especially seeing as some off-West End productions have threads in the general Plays forum.

[Joan]

Well I guess the way to encourage people to register is to accuse them of being part of the production and slam their opinion, just because they liked a play.

Whether Guest opinions are taken with 'A pinch of salt' or not, doesn't alter the fact that a lot of people loved this play, and I am one of them.

Okay,  so now I have registered, does that make my opinion more valid?

[Backdrifter]

Laughingmonsta perhaps could have expressed it better, but what he was referring to was the fact that there have been problems with the tone of a great many guest postings, and also that in this forum particularly some of the guests have been people from productions acting like breathless fans. There's also been a track record of many guest posters taking a very combative stance with anyone who dislikes a production, which is why I flinched a little at the "you try writing a play" comment. But even that was mild compared to the truly unpleasant guest posts that have been a recurring feature.

But if you're saying that guest posters are innocent until proven guilty, then I agree with you. Yes, it's unfair to tar all guests with the same brush, but some members feel they have some reason to do so.

One advantage of registering, apart from making it easier to post, is being able to start threads as well. Joan, you may have registered just to argue a point but now that you have, I hope you feel you can carry on posting as a registered member.

[Backdrifter]

@ Backdrifter and Laughingmonster

Originally, I intented to simply say that I thought the critics' verdict was far too grim and submit my own positive review, which, however, never appeared on the main page so I posted in on the forum. But then somebody said "... the cast actually looked embarrassed at the bows". When I replied 'why don't you try to do better', I was, in fact, referring to such persons, and not to everybody in general who voices their reservations about the play.  We all do have a right to our opinions. But why not get serious and really write a play of one's own? A critic may be a writer's dream gone bust. At least we would appreciate the courage it actually takes to come forward and put one's work onstage. What would you have done differently in TMG and why? This is the kind of feedback that will help authors improve their work. Comments such as "worst I've ever seen" without giving any specifics are simply regarded by authors for what they are: put downs by someone who doesn't know any better.

Ben Jones told me he actually likes his role with its twists and turns. And he does a wonderful Latin American accent. Josefina Gabrielle has found herself a new fan: Me! Nobody is embarrassed at the bows because the audiences have been far more positive about the play than many critics were.

And, yes, I could register. I didn't think about it because I thought this would be the only time I'd ever voice a POV on any UK play.  And, yes, Lynette, I could write more reviews on other plays I have seen. I am just new to this forum.

Gordina

Thanks for that response, you sound a lot calmer than in your previous posts! I'd still argue that just because someone has slated something without going into detail, it doesn't necessarily mean it's uninformed or that they don't know any better, any more than I'd say that about someone who just said "I loved it!" also without explaining why. But I do agree that it's at least always more interesting if someone backs up their loved-it-or-hated-it comments.

I'd also add that there could be many people on this board who are indeed writing their own plays, or have even had stuff performed, but opt to not mention it.

Regarding your comments on critics perhaps being failed writers. Did you get to see Plague Over England? It's written by Nicholas de Jong, the theatre critic of the London Evening Standard who has in fact now resigned from that job to write full-time.