Another Moral Dilemma! ... You've Been Warne ...d!

Mr Ross. If you fear that you may be deemed an elitiste pig for accepting the offer, throw the tickets my way, for I'll be happy to wear the mantle! I'll take elitiste in any shape or form, being that this scrawny wretch was raised in the seedy spots of Manchester and Balga, or should I say MT Balga Heights as my dear ex-wife used to tell her friends. Johnny Grim

The trolls are morons then; like reviewers never get free tickets... shock horror! I say review and be damned! (Bonus points for anyone who gets the publishing reference) Seahorse shadow puppet for sale at Puppets in Melbourne

Duke of Wellington (Publish and be Damned) Can't remember the details. Edit: He is reported to have said it when a courtesan threatened to publish some indiscreet letters he had sent her. Is that all there is? Well if that's all there is my friend, then let's keep dancing. www.tonymoore.id.au

I personally think we should all be boycotting this musical which glamourises infidelity and other things. I just wonder what message it sends to everyone. No matter how bad you fuck up, hurt people, your family, ruin your career, you can still get a musical written about it and reap the benefits. It's just not cricket. It's very "un-Australian" as some people may call it also. Don't review it! Don't see it! My 2 cents.

I have a feeling I'm being baited here, so I will confine myself 'nicely' to two simple suggestions, viz: 1. Write a review but declare your interest. Readers have a right to know you received comps when assessing your credibility; and 2. Speak to a Curtin Uni academic about enrolling in a course on media ethics. They are very strong on that sort of thing there. :teacher: Ssstinger>>>

I agree with declaring interest if a family member, colleague or friend is in a show you are reviewing, but I don't think it's necessary to declare that you got comped tickets. I mean, do you ever see such a declaration in mainstream newspapers? Despite the fact that reviewers are always given comps? Seahorse shadow puppet for sale at Puppets in Melbourne

But is Mr Ross getting these tickets because he's a reviewer? Or just because he's part of Perth's social scene? That's the point everyone keeps missing and no one has explained.

The words 'Perth' and 'social scene' are a contradiction in terms ;) If anyone would like to comp me and my friend, I would be glad to write a review. I would declare it though. I'm thinking of boycotting 'Warnie' - also 'Phantom' and pretty much everything Shakespeare ever wrote ;) Ssstinger>>>

Greg, you got to stop going out gallavanting and enjoying yourself. Learn to stay home and be miserable like the rest of us bastards. Speaking of cricket, there is a rumor going around (that I have just started),that Shane is doing really well tele marketing -- apparently after reading his resume they realized he had way more experience than all the other applicants. But I will give Shane his due, he put a whole new meaning to that well known cricket phrase "out for a duck". Ray Condy, real name supplied as my pseudonym is a secret.

Especially since musicals such as Mozart's 'Don Giovanni' glamourise infidelity so much better. freddie the rocking jedi badger

I agree with Na. Reviewers, newspapers, fellow theatre companies, Joe Bloggs, a whole number of people get 'free comps' - it's called PUBLICITY. No need for GR to declare an interest, only if directly or indirectly (as in a relative/friend) with the production. Now, whether seeing a musical on the idiot Warnie is worth it is another matter...

If someone is PAID to publicise a show and then writes an impliedly impartial and objective 'review' of it, is that not a fraudulent misrepresentation? So where do you draw the line?

You mean like every mainstream publication? What about 'The Age' in Melbourne? They are a major sponsor (ie. like the top three sponsors) of the Melbourne Comedy Festival. They also have reviews of the shows throughout the season... I know it's different here, but since most people don't get paid to advertise a show on here (what would be the point, when posting is free and all it takes is an internet connection) I don't see your point. Seahorse shadow puppet for sale at Puppets in Melbourne

The point is that someone who is a paid publicist is even less impartial than a family or cast member who writes an 'objective' review, beating up a show (which, Na agreed earlier, was not acceptable). Our punters rely on the impartiality of our reviews in deciding what to see and what not to. A well-written review can make or break a community theatre show in WA. So if a review is written by a paid professional, they should declare (or disclaim) their bias, as Stinger suggested earlier. The Age and the Comedy Festival in Melbourne is simply not a valid comparison in this context.

"Our punters rely on the impartiality of our reviews in deciding what to see and what not to." While I might read a review and note what it says, I don't think it would sway me one way or the other as to whether I go see the show. A review, positive or negative, is one persons opinion. www.meltheco.org.au

For We Are Aussies And We Care Raymond J Warren Brisbane Qld February 9th 2009 Did you see that fireball a’rolling, down the valley fair And the timber smoke a’rising, from the beauty that was there? Did you hear the bird’s loud calling, in fear as they flew, And house dogs barking loudly, at the fright that they felt too? Did you hear the wind loud roaring, like a jet plane overhead, Did you see the roadway littered with the dying and the dead? Did you hear the crackling bushland and see the volunteers fight, Did you watch the orange horizon in the darkness of the night? Can you hear the men hard yelling, as they run this way and that, Can you hear the horses screaming as they gallop on the flat? Do you hear the child calling as she stands now safe alone, “Where’s my daddy have you seen him, I want my daddy home!” Do you know that sinking feeling of the loss and loneliness, As you stand before your once proud home and feel the emptiness. Do you know that heartache, as you sift through ashes bare? Does a tear come to your reddened eyes, for memories stolen there? Can you hear the deathly cry go up, to meet the burnished sky, Of fathers with their children gone and a mother's mournful sigh. And those who search the empty roads, for loved ones, who don't come, The old and wise who blame themselves, for not telling them to run. But please don’t worry strongly, there is something you should know, We can’t bring back your loved ones, or the tokens for to show. But we can share your pain, for our shoulders we lay bare. So lay your head upon our breast, we are Aussies and we care. THE SILENCE OF TWO HUNDRED A Tribute to the victims of Black Saturday in Victoria February 2009 Raymond J Warren Lone bird flying o’er the land, not knowing whence or where, Her mate has gone midst flame and wind, that she could not share. Their nesting tree where was it now? It surely has not crumbled, Only blackened sticks below and the silence of two hundred. It seems like many years ago, when voices laughed and spoke, Before the heat, the fierce wind and that cloudy choking smoke. Where Goanna ran up trees of green and Koalas never numbered But all is quiet in the bush, with the silence of two hundred. Once they lived together all, in bush land so serene, When normal rain kept it there, growing evergreen. But then the savagery of drought, of bush too little lumbered And terror witnessed only by, the silence of two hundred The orange glow has gone now, the birds have gone to rest, A haze is on horizon and black silhouettes ride each crest. The air is still and cooling and the earth is ere encumbered, For nothing now will ever change, the silence of two hundred. Lone bird flying o’er the land not knowing whence or where Her mate is gone midst flame and wind, that she did not share. No more there will she nest again, for from the air she tumbled, To sleep upon the blackened ash, with the silence of two hundred. THE TERRIBLE SHADE OF THE OLD GHOST GUM TREE Raymond J Warren February 2009 She stood on that hillside for two hundred years, A Ghost Gum that saw life, it’s pleasures and fears. Now blackened and burned, no leaf is in place, All bush life has gone, burned away without trace. She saw it not coming, there was nothing to do, No warning was issued, till birds shrieked and flew. And then Hades arrived to claim Lucifer’s fee, In the terrible shade of the old Ghost Gum Tree. Yes she had seen many years slow come and go, Kangaroo and Koala that she’d come to know. Goanna and Magpie and Piping Shrike too, But now all were gone, there were not even few. The nestlings were burned and lay in her breast, Cockatoo and Galah and the one with pink crest. Only a Possum who had lived deep inside, Managed escape with a slightly burned hide. Now she waits for the winter, for the rains that will come, For her leaves that will spring forth to welcome the sun. But sad she resigns, to how things will be, In the terrible shade of the old Ghost Gum Tree.

...when there are so many seasons running concurrently as at present in Perth, punters are bound to study the 'form' before deciding what to spend their entertainment budget and time on. A good way to test the effect would be to look at two current shows, both recently reviewed on this site by the same reviewer, one positive and one negative. This particular reviewer has admittedly a bias toward hoary old British comedy and against the 'local product', whether good or bad, but let's compare the number of 'bums on seats' overall for both anyway. So how many persons write reviews, and what proportion of the theatre-going public do they represent? "Never underestimate the power of the pen". "Think global, act local".

You are, of course, assuming that the theatre going public avail themselves of said reviews. I would be surprised, nay, amazed if more than 1 in 20 of our patrons had read Gordon's review, or are even aware of this website. www.meltheco.org.au

I have a feeling that if you were comp'd those tickets as a means to advertise the 'Shane Warne Musical' then the fact that you have created an interesting and thought evoking blog (that people are reading and contributing to) could possibly mean that you have served your purpose.