Joe Egg in today's West

Wed, 3 June 2009, 11:00 am

Stephen Bevis has written a wonderful insightful article on Class Act's production of "A Day in the Death of Joe Egg" in today's West Australian (Wed 3 June p. 7 in the Today section) We preview this Fri 5 June and open Sat 6 June Runs until Sat June 20 - Tues, Wed, Fri, Sat - 8pm Matinee - Sat 20 June, 2pm. YOU WON'T KNOW WHETHER TO LAUGH OR CRY! Bookings through BOCS 9484 1133

Thread (40 posts)

Threaded Flat

class act theatreWed, 3 June 2009, 11:00 am

Walter PlingeWed, 3 June 2009, 11:17 am

And for those wondering why

And for those wondering why he won't cover other productions in Perth, his email is stephen.bevis@wanews.com.au. If you get no joy out of him, try the West's new editor Brett McCarthy at brett.mccarthy@wanews.com.au.

Walter PlingeWed, 3 June 2009, 11:25 am

This isn't aimed at you,

This isn't aimed at you, Neil, it just hit on something that I've thought about for a while. I keep having conversations with performing artists in Perth who complain that the West never covers their work, and when I ask if they'd actually spoken to Stephen Bevis they say "oh well I e-mailed him a media release and he never called back". If you want a major newspaper to cover your work then send a media release, and then a few days later pick up the phone and actually call the paper and ask to speak to the arts editor. Give him a reason to cover it. Before you call, think of three different angles he might be able to take: interesting or topical subject matter, a notable cast member or director, whatever. It's up to you to make your production irresistable to an arts editor (or radio producer, or whatever). You have to give him or her a reason to cover your story instead of someone else's.

Walter PlingeWed, 3 June 2009, 11:36 am

I think you'll find the

I think you'll find the West has a policy of not covering community theatre productions and I provided those email addresses as a way for people to put their cases forward as to why they should.

Walter PlingeWed, 3 June 2009, 01:16 pm

west reviews

Does the West review professional independent productions?? I recall seeing some over the past years...(can't recall specifics...can anyone enlighten?? Is this any different to community theatre? stevie

Walter PlingeWed, 3 June 2009, 01:39 pm

Basically, they review

Basically, they review productions where the actors get paid (professional) or have the potential to get paid (such as co-ops). Occasionally they review shows at WAAPA. But where the actors don't get paid, such as in community theatre, they don't review the shows. No one's ever come up with a decent reason as to why this is, particularly when they have six issues a week and could devote half a page, of even a quarter-page, to a review or two once a week.

Garry DWed, 3 June 2009, 05:34 pm

yep, that's been my experience

I know that I have contacted the West on a couple of occasions for productions at Old Mill (although admittedly I haven't tried in the past year or so). The response has been that it doesn't cover community theatre as a matter of policy. I wonder whether editorial staff changes may change this.

Walter PlingeWed, 3 June 2009, 05:47 pm

There's a couple of email

There's a couple of email addresses up there so you can check. Perhaps someone might also ask *why* is it policy?

NaWed, 3 June 2009, 06:47 pm

I suspect that like many

I suspect that like many other newspapers, they simply don't cover amateur shows because of the perception that audiences are more interested in knowing about professional shows than amateur ones. That and pro shows tend to arrange to get editorial cover in a package deal with ads (or so I've heard). Local papers (ie. city council boundary papers) are more likely to cover amateur shows than larger ones. I'm sure we've discussed this before somewhere... Puppets and patterns at Puppets in Melbourne

Walter PlingeWed, 3 June 2009, 09:55 pm

Maybe its because a lot of

Maybe its because a lot of community theatre productions are crap and too embarassingly woeful to watch let alone review. Plus the fact that community theatres tend to have shit attack when anyone tells them the awful truth they don't want to hear.

Walter PlingeThu, 4 June 2009, 02:32 am

Would it be right for

Would it be right for amateur theatre to be evaluated by the same standards as professional and semi-professional theatre? Or would it be fair for a reviewer to give more lenient reviews to amateur productions, knowing that they are made by people who do not devote their full time to the product and that the amateur productions may not have the same budget or levels of experience behind them? Now, I know there are going to be one or two people who think "Oh but Amateur theatre is just as good as professional theatre!" Well, I'm sure in some cases there audience members who have enjoyed amateur theatre even more than they have enjoyed a professional show. What I would say though, is that people should be encouraged to see professional and semi professional work, because in general it is of a higher standard. The West Australian does a good job of reviewing and promoting good theatre, and kindly warning audiences about theatre which may not suit everyone. There are a lot of people whose first experience with theatre is sitting in a community hall and suffering through a few hours of a couple o' hams saying lines from a dusty script in the right order. I'm not by any means saying that all amateur theatre is like that... but certain portion is. On the other hand: Does the West Australian cover amateur football games? Open age beginners Latin dance competitions? What about junior synchronised swimming on a regular basis? A line has to be drawn somewhere over what will and what won't be covered by any newspaper. I think drawing it at actors being paid is a good place. Plus- Actors SHOULD be paid. By promoting work which pays actors, The West Australian is promoting actors getting paid. Creating more of an industry here.

Walter PlingeThu, 4 June 2009, 06:29 am

Reviews for community

Reviews for community theatre have to be written in the style and tone of a childrens pet show competition, everyone has to be told they are wonderful and everyone has to win a prize in order to avoid tantrums and tears and diva-esque behaviour.

Walter PlingeThu, 4 June 2009, 09:10 am

So then why does the West

So then why does the West review WAAPA shows? None of those actors get paid? Everyone is sitting here on Theatre Australia speculating the reasons but has anyone actually asked the specific reason? Has anyone actually been bold enough to make contact with The West? And asked why it has this specific policy?

LabrugThu, 4 June 2009, 09:30 am

In reply...

You raise some very interesting and discussion worthy points. Is it a case of biased perception between Pro and Am, or is there a valid case for the discrimination? Allow me a moment to play Devil's Advocate ;-)

"Would it be right for amateur theatre to be evaluated by the same standards as professional and semi-professional theatre?"

I don't see why not. Regardless of what some may think, the standard of Community Theatre, at least around Perth is on Par if not occasionally superior to that of professional work. It is also one of your grooming grounds for new talent, so why not expose them to the public. Additionally, it would be up to the individual theatres as to whether a should is publicised or not, and if they were to publish a show that would reflect poorly on them, then that is their issue.

And it is not just an issue of an audience enjoying shows more than a pro show. The amount of work and creative problem solving that has gone in to the creation of more than a handful of productions is testiment to the talent that exists in Community Theatre. Does that not deserve some exposure?

"...would it be fair for a reviewer to give more lenient reviews to amateur productions...that the amateur productions may not have the same budget or levels of experience behind them?"

Again, I think the point is mute as quite a bit of 'professional' work is done a shoe-string budget. In fact, there have been Am shows that have worked with a larger Budget than some Pro shows. I have heard reviews of Pro shows (and if you like in Pro Reviews) that have poorly compared the performance and set designs to that of Am shows. Additionally, if Fairness is an issue, then why not clearly state in a review that a show is professional or community? What is more important, the exposure of a vibrant and buzzing Theatrical Culture, be it pro or am, or that the actors get paid?

"..people should be encouraged to see professional and semi professional work, because in general it is of a higher standard."

And yet by exposing only these types of production, does it not project upon the general public that this is the only type of theatre? Would it not perpetuate the view that WA (in particular) is culturally dull?

Personally, I think the line between Pro and Am is very grey. There is a massive amount of cross-over, especially if you consider the amount of semi-pro work around, or even profit-share projects.

"Plus- Actors SHOULD be paid. By promoting work which pays actors, The West Australian is promoting actors getting paid."

What about promoting actors that SHOULD be paid? ;-) - Still, you make a very valid argument, maybe a line should be drawn, but who decides?

Beyond all that, and on a more general note, the West has the right to choose what they will and will not promote in their publications. We can attempt to convince them otherwise and maybe even one day get them to change their minds. That remains to be seen.

However, there are plenty of alternative means of promoting shows through secondary publications and such. The main issue I think comes down to the fact that people actually read the WEST as opposed to the Community Rags and promotional sites. The West stands for exposure and I think that is the real drive; we want in on that exposure.

In other words, (and I am sure Cerunos and others will agree) the West and equivalent state based newspapers are not the Holy Grail of publicity. Attempting to change an organisational mindset which has no doubt been set up to filter the massive amount of information that could potentially flood a newspaper, is going be one hard battle.

In the end, we want the community at large to know we are there and that we are doing things. They may not be world-class but it is happening.

Absit invidia (and DFT :nono:)

Jeff Watkins

Home Page
Yahoo Blog Page

SN Profile

class act theatreThu, 4 June 2009, 09:47 am

Well, I just got the BOCS

Well, I just got the BOCS report this morning - and in spite of the great article in the West, Joe Egg received NO bookings yesterday at all. So it still begs the question - does it really matter if the West prints community theatre stuff or not? From what I hear the community theatres in Perth are getting a lot more audience support than we struggling co-ops are!

Walter PlingeThu, 4 June 2009, 10:02 am

So you'll be letting the

So you'll be letting the West know your thoughts then Jeff?

LabrugThu, 4 June 2009, 11:45 am

One Better

Better than that, I sent them the link to this discussion. To which I have received a reply but am seeking permission before re-printing.

Absit invidia (and DFT :nono:)

Jeff Watkins

Home Page
Yahoo Blog Page

SN Profile

NormaThu, 4 June 2009, 06:37 pm

so you'll be letting the...

I already have, am awaiting permission to reproduce Stephen's reply!

NormaThu, 4 June 2009, 06:38 pm

One better

So did I- and so am I !!!

NormaThu, 4 June 2009, 06:38 pm

One better

So did I- and so am I !!!

NormaThu, 4 June 2009, 07:38 pm

Reply from Stephen Bevis

I have just received the following from Stephen Bevis, Arts Editor of the West Australian. I have his full permission to post this.

As some of your members may recall, I launched the Stage Whispers column in The West Australian more than three years ago to address concerns about a perceived lack of coverage of community/amateur theatre.

It was intended to be flexible enough to include all stage-related while at least providing some focused attention on the community/amateur theatre sector in the somewhat tight arts pages.

Occasionally, as with the Beauty and the Beast production by Playlovers or a look at Marloo Theatre's DramaFest, the thriving amateur sector will break through for a feature story. I appreciate the popularity, passion and community enhancement of the various groups around the State.

However, with limited space in my pages, increased output from professional independent and main-stage companies, and the need to cover visual arts, books, dance, classical music and jazz (all of whose practioners clamour for more coverage), I can only do so much.

No doubt our sports department cops the occasional backhander from people wanting more coverage of amateur sport.

It may be illustrative to check out the degree of coverage given to amateur theatre in comparable papers interstate, such as the Sydney Morning Herald, the Age, Herald Sun, Adelaide Advertiser and Brisbane Courier Mail.

The point is, I try to do my best in the circumstances. As much as I enjoy theatre, the arts sector is a broad church.

If you have any more suggestions on how we can do better at The West, please don't hesitate to let me know through this forum or by direct email to stephen.bevis@wanews.com.au

Stephen Bevis

Arts Editor

The West Australian

Reprinted by Norma Davis with Stephen's persmission

From: davis [mailto:davisrn@people.net.au]

Walter PlingeThu, 4 June 2009, 07:41 pm

What exactly do you mean in

What exactly do you mean in saying "he won't over other productions in Perth"? I am a publicist and have never had any trouble getting my productions covered in The West. I've found Steve a very nice and extremely helpful man.

Walter PlingeThu, 4 June 2009, 07:45 pm

And there you have it. As

And there you have it. As someone else mentioned earlier in the comments, it's not likely that sending a media release and hoping for the best is going to get you anywhere. Pick up the phone and make a call. If you get a voicemail, leave a message, then call again the next day. You've got to give editors a reason to cover you story over everything else in the state. Don't call and have no idea what you're going to pitch: an editor/journalist knows what you're calling for - convince them that your project deserves the coverage. Public relations is a tricky business and by far not the easiest in the book.

Walter PlingeThu, 4 June 2009, 09:57 pm

After speaking to several

After speaking to several journalists, nothing annoys them more than a publicist ringing and saying "Did you get my press release?" or "Are you going to do anything with it?" They get hundreds of releases every day and if everyone called, that's hundreds more calls they have to field when they are already pressed for time.

Walter PlingeThu, 4 June 2009, 11:37 pm

Absolutely, and the key

Absolutely, and the key thing is you have to have a story. Putting on a play isn't enough. Why this play? Why is it relevant? Is there a notable or interesting actor in the show? Is the director of significance? If you can't find a marketing angle yourself to generate an interesting story, journalists generally aren't going to find it for you - they have too many choices of subject matter to cover already.

Walter PlingeFri, 5 June 2009, 12:30 am

It still works.

Walter PlingeFri, 5 June 2009, 08:37 am

No, it doesn't. The more

No, it doesn't. The more you annoy a journalist, the more likely you are to go on their "blacklist" i.e. your press release will keep mysteriously disappearing to the bottom of the pile without a trace. By badgering them to run your specific release, you're implying you know better than them what the content of their pages should be. If they think there's merit in it, they're more than capable of following it up and do something with it.

Walter PlingeFri, 5 June 2009, 08:45 am

Okay. Well my personal

Okay. Well my personal experience and success in getting newspaper coverage goes against this. It might be about the difference of calling up and being badgering and calling up and wanting to talk about the show. Either way, if you're holding your ground we're going to have to agree to disagree. Or you can come over my house and look through my files upon files of publicity from over the years. We'll have a cup of tea and all if you like.

grantwatsonFri, 5 June 2009, 09:11 am

I have to agree with

I have to agree with Cerunos - and we're not talking about "badgering" journalists and editors. We're saying "follow up your media release with a phone call". I've spoken to several arts editors over the years and they've all told me the same thing, which is media release, leave it a few days, then give them a quick call. It'd be a pretty poor journalist who never wanted to have a phone conversation with people whose industry he/she is supposed to be writing about!

Walter PlingeFri, 5 June 2009, 10:33 am

Here's a great guide to the

Here's a great guide to the whole publicity thing: http://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/research/arts_marketing/promotion/sauce_media_relations In answer to the ongoing debate above, it just depends on the journalist in question whether you should follow up with a call or not. You have to get to know the nuances of each publication you're sending stuff to.

kerriFri, 5 June 2009, 11:14 am

excellent link

hi Peter This is an excellent guide to publicity , thank you for it. Should be required reading for anyone in the publicity field or thinking about going into the field. There are one or two people out there at the moment who are attempting to call themselves publicists who could learn a lot from it.

Walter PlingeFri, 5 June 2009, 11:15 am

Getting in to a local paper

If this is any help at all, I am a reporter and spent many, many years writing about arts for local papers. We get piles of illiterate press releases every day. The arts section is often written very quickly and frankly, if you can put together something very straight-forward and legible with a clear local angle (something new is always good, not offering up the same old face for a pic) you'll probably get a guernsey. Give a phone number for an actor or two, list which suburb they live in and you increase your chances. If your cast/crew is drawn from a wide area then provide a cast member relevant to each paper. They'll probably localise a version. (NB, they won't interview your stage manager or lighting guy... don't offer them up... it makes you look desperate). Plan ahead. Not months ahead. Maybe two/three weeks out. Too early and you'll slip off the radar or be seen as annoyingly keen. Arts is usually written earlier in the week, freeing up the reporters to write the news in the last couple of days before publication - that's surprisingly worth knowing. Arts copy deadlines are much earlier than published news deadlines. Send the presser and a few days later give a follow up call. But don't say "are you going to do anything with it?" because you'll get the reporter off side. Just say you're there if you can help get people for pics etc and mention you can resend the presser if needs be. Local papers are usually keen enough to run something but you're more likely to miss out because there are a few too many theatre stories around that week and "arts is a broad church" than anything else. Seriously, make it as streamlined and uncomplicated as possible. We seriously do not care about artistic pretension or squabbling. If you're proving difficult or annoying and something easier comes up, we'll usually take it. We usually just want to quickly fill the back pages.

Walter PlingeFri, 5 June 2009, 12:16 pm

Another handy

Another handy link: http://www.abaf.org.au/files/Artist_Business_50TopTips/Top_Ten_Tips_for_Media_Relations.pdf

Walter PlingeSat, 6 June 2009, 12:21 pm

As Stephen himself points

As Stephen himself points out, he's referring to policies and editorial decisions made three years ago. The West Australian has a new editor, as noted above, in the shape of Brett McCarthy and is attempting to move on from the previous editorship. He's already making changes to the content of the paper; the new WIRED section on Thursdays covering music is a case in point. Given it is a time of change at the West, this would be an ideal time to make suggestions to the main boss (i.e. not the arts boss) on what the public might want, how the paper can be improved and so on. If there can be a new music liftout, why not a new arts liftout, which devotes part of itself to community theatre reviews (not just a few paragraphs here and there in the Stage Whispers column), along with the rest of the arts? His email was given above but I'll put it again here for reference: brett.mccarthy@wanews.com.au Major changes come from the big bosses, not the editors in charge of their own sections.

Walter PlingeSun, 7 June 2009, 09:05 am

Unfortunately the sad truth

Unfortunately the sad truth is that there is not enough money in the arts for it to be able to support a dedicated lift-out. Music is an entirely different story.

kwyloSun, 7 June 2009, 11:27 pm

Nothing wrong with calling

The number of press releases that flow through a newspaper or a radio station in a single day is in the hundreds. There is no harm in dropping a follow up email or placing a telephone call to back it up. The key is definately having something special to sell, why should your production be covered (probably at the expence of another). Is it a new play? Is it a rarely seen play?, Is the next big actor or actress in it? Does it have something rarely seen on the stage...yes, there has to be an additional 'why should a journalist care' ellement. If it's yet another production of 'The Importance of Being Earnest' or 'Much Ado About Nothing' there's less interest - naturally. There is always the challenge of not enough collumn inches or minutes of air time, but if your show has something interesting, and you make sure it's noticed, it'll break through. ..and don't just send press releases, send an invitation or tickets. Graeme Watson General Manager Arts Radio Ltd RTRFM 92.1 gwatson@rtrfm.com.au www.rtrfm.com.au 08 9260 9200

Walter PlingeMon, 8 June 2009, 09:06 am

I have to disagree with you

I have to disagree with you Graeme. As you say, newsrooms get hundreds of press releases every day. If everyone rings to follow up, that's hundreds more phone calls to field. Frankly, it's annoying, especially when we're pressed for time and have stories to file. A journalist can tell from the press release whether it's worth doing something or not. We're quite capable of making that decision; if we think it's of merit, we'll do something, if we don't, we won't. And it's quite possible a journalist *will* do a story, submit it and so on but then the chief-of-staff or news editor decides to go with something else or something bigger and better happens and the story has to be dropped. If this happens - and, trust me, people do this - DON'T ring and say "Why didn't you run my story?" After explaining, someone else made the decision, DON'T demand to speak to them, either. They'll probably tell you where to go. All it does is damage your chances of coverage the next time you have a show or something you want to promote.

NaMon, 8 June 2009, 09:59 am

I agree with both

Offering an invite and a ticket (or two) is especially a good idea. Who doesn't enjoy a freebie? And maybe them attending the play will spark some more interest in writing about it. I also agree that there's a limit to how much you can harass a writer. I do think that one phone call is fine, but anything more than that and you can bet the writer won't be impressed. There really is way too much to be written about, and the number one thing an arts editor/writer will be doing (other than writing of course) is saying no. Puppets and patterns at Puppets in Melbourne

Sharon MobiliaSun, 14 June 2009, 04:07 pm

Freebies

We (Acorn) used to send out free tickets all the time, years ago to gain some publicity, but as most Am Theatres only run for about 3 weekends the story goes into the paper too late to have been any help to sell tickets. We gave up in the end because people rarely took advantage of them as most theatres seem to run their seasons at the same time.

Walter PlingeSun, 14 June 2009, 05:06 pm

As you can see from the

As you can see from the thread above, most newspapers have a policy of not reviewing amateur theatre. Therefore, sending out freebies to the media is a waste of time. You're better off focusing on trying to gain media interest *before* a show opens, as has been outlined here. A press release and a photo a few weeks before you open is a good start.

← Back to Billboard Bulletins