Reviews of Temporo (an ARENA production)

Hi all,

Firstly I'm not the reviewer, just the message bearer ...

A review of ARENA's "Temporo" was posted(1) by Touchstone over in the Billboard Bulletins forum. Rather than copy & paste the whole thing here, I thought it'd be better for you to go and look in the Billboard forum. =)

Another review was put up(2) on the IndiePerth website, which was somewhat less glowing. They also shredded Blak Yak's "Red Dwarf II: Kryten" so our (sincere) consolations go to them as well as to ourselves!

And in blatant self-promotion of our website, an easy way to get to all of these reviews is to visit www.arenaentertainment.com.au and click on the "Reviews & Testimonials" page.

Cheers,

Andrew S
(for Arena Arts & Entertainment)

(1) http://theatre.asn.au/read.php?f=18&i=3628&t=3626
(2) http://www.indielondon.co.uk/perth/theatre/temporo_rev.html

havent seen temporo yet, but in regards to blak yak's red dwarf, id proably agree. i saw the first one and was less than impressed to say the least. i can only imagine what the second one would have been like.
looks like this 'indieperth' site is offering fairly honest reviews, rather than the usual brown-nosing you see on this site. i will keep an eye on it, as long as they dont get too carried away with themselves.

thor wrote:
> looks like this 'indieperth' site is offering fairly honest
> reviews, rather than the usual brown-nosing you see on this
> site. i will keep an eye on it, as long as they dont get too
> carried away with themselves.

Of course! But I don't think it's really fair for a reviewer to fail to acknowledge that community theatre really _is_ run with a very small budget, using actors with little or no professional stage experience, props that can't be smashed up too vigorously because they can't be replaced and need to last for the whole production run, and all that sort of thing ...

Then again, "Temporo" was compared to an episode of Scooby Doo, and how on earth can that be a bad thing? =)

We also understand that the reviewer did not stay for the second half, either due to a lack of interest in the play (in which case, how can it be reviewed professionally?) or due to not understanding what an intermission was. So with that in mind, and no credit given for being an amateur rather than a professional one, I would have to disagree about this "fairly honest review" ...

So, come and see "Temporo", and then please write your own review for this site. The season's still running!

http://www.arenaentertainment.com.au/temporo.html

Andrew S.

i totally agree with you andrew. if they couldnt even be bothered (or if as you say, they didnt know what an intermission was) then the 'review' is obviously extremely flawed.

and yes, i think reviewers should make a note in thier reviews as to wether or not it's a community theatre project. then again, perhaps community theatre should ask itself if it WANTS to be reviewed, for all the reasons you listed in your post regarding budgets, props, inexperienced actors, etc. if these factors are a problem, then youre going to get hammered. perhaps just a bit of advertising is enough. usually, it is, but people generally like to look for some sort of approval, which is just our nature.

looking again at the indieperth site, i recognise at least one name which attends waapa. this is obviously your problem. they are not looking at it from an objective, audience - driven point of view, but rather what their masters back at the castle might think, and try to emulate it. still, i might see your show and want to launch a scud at it, who knows? then again, i might totally dig it. the problem is, i wont get to see it, andrew, but i would call upon the other people here to go and see what its all about.

oh look at me, anyone would think i went to the craig williams school of essay-posting.

Thor writes :
"perhaps community theatre should ask itself if it WANTS to be reviewed"

ARENA usually doesn't seek professional reviews. We prefer the honest responses of audiences to our shows, something that has served us very well over the years in regard to our Theatre For Schools productions, and more recently with our Community Theatre projects.

The "price tag" of just being featured on the indie.perth website was a "request" for free tickets for opening night and the promise of a review. We were not told about the tickets-and-review bit until after we had been accepted for posting on their website. Something for other groups to look out for. Not that I see other theatre companies flocking to indie.perth to be reviewed . . .

now that i think about it, just when the hell IS a show thats like an episode of scooby doo a bad thing? when did that happen? i must have missed the 'arty memo' on that one.

I actually hadn't seen the review in Indie Perth until just now. I know we had a "reviewer" come to see the show with comp tickets that we provided and I'm fairly certain that she didn't even stay till the end of the first act.

All reviews are gratefully accepted by Blak Yak Theatre, be they good or bad, but this reviewer has seen three plays and has been overly harsh(IMHO) about them all. Even Bench, by Perth Theatre Company, got lampooned.

Melissa

PS Go see Conundrum.

Reviewers come, reviewers go. Remember a review is only one person's opinion about a production. A review should be a balance appraisal of a production ..... not a bagging session. And who the hell is Indie Perth .... some religeous order.

Funny how people rarely question the credibility of positive reviews but when it is not in their favour, reviewers' credibility is questioned and the 'we're-community-theatre' flag gets waved.

I don't have a full and thorough opinion on the matter but that thought immediately sprang to mind reading the posts.

And theres no real difference between a reviewer's opinion on one website and an audience doing a review on this website. The reviewer is an audience member as well surely...

I've had a few criticisms about my performances in the past but as Denis Leary nicely puts it...

"Life sucks. Wear a f***ing helmet."


Crispy.

Good points, Crispy


I haven't had a chance to investigate Indie Perth yet, I'll try to when I get back. But I do hope that they aren't simply a new avenue for bad reviewing...
It doesn't matter to me if a production gets bagged or not, or even if a reviewer leaves the show halfway (I think that's important information to admit in your review, though)...so long as your reasons and whatever opinions you publish are justified to your best ability. Others may then agree or disagree, and we can all argue about the content - but I get tired of realising that most of my objections about a review are not its opinions but the way it is poorly written.
Let's hope Indie Perth becomes a strong and respected source of independent reviewing.

Like this website is becoming.

Cheers,
Craig

[%sig%]

Just want to mention that Allison Browning also did a review on the student production of Unidentified Human Remains at Hayman Theatre on the Indie website and she gave it quite a balanced review - I thought.

http://indielondon.co.uk/perth/theatre/unidentified_human_remains_rev.html

And isn't Allison Browning a writer for the Sunday Times?


Crispy.

There is no doubting that if a reviewer feels that if a bad review is warranted, then obviously that is perfectly reasonable. That's something we as performers must deal with and learn from.

However when that so-called review is badly written, contains NUMEROUS errors of both a factual and interpretive nature, and seeks to do nothing but rip a community theatre production to pieces for the silliest little reasons, for example the modest budget we have to work with (read the review, you'll see what I mean), then I think we have every right to raise the so-called "community theatre flag".

Community theatre is a struggling artform in this society, whose participants include people who do what they do, NOT for money, NOT for fame and glory, but because they LOVE IT. Vicious and petty minded reviews that offer nothing, NOTHING, but spite and vindictiveness in return for a simple attempt to entertain that small number people who still love to see a bit of theatre, will do nothing but drive a few more nails into the CT coffin.

CT actors know how to accept criticism... but no one should have to accept blatant abuse.

At least not quietly.

Michael Lamont

With any review a production receives - be it good, bad or ugly?
No matter how many positives you have applied to switch itÂ’s light on - it still wonÂ’t work without at least one negative! So now you can complete the circuit & switch on! What do ya know - IT works!!!
Take heart from a new innovative musical production, based on the play ‘Green grow the lilacs’, that couldn’t get any backers at all, to put it on it’s Opening night on Broadway in 1943. Mainly because of the Critics reviews that slated & slammed it terribly, based upon playback’s from their out of town review scouts. This reflected in a dismal Box Office & the production company couldn’t even give the tickets away prior to it’s opening. The tag line of the critics was "No Gals, no Gags, no Tickets. No Show!"
Undeterred it went on to do 2,212 performances on Broadway, won various theatre gongs & was even a hit movie.
The musical is still being performed & regarded as a classic in American Musical Theatre. It also brought together for the first time composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist/librettist Oscar Hammerstein II . It was of course ‘Okalahoma’.
Like title of any play or production, that can be put on the marquee, using only one word to descibe it. - will always be a hit with the BOSÂ’s!

Toi toi toi Chookas Tempro & all at Arena.

> Tempro & all at Arena.

OOps! I dropped the fist 'O' in 'TEMPORO'

joe wrote:
>
> With any review a production receives - be it good, bad or
> ugly?
> No matter how many positives you have applied to switch itÂ’s
> light on - it still wonÂ’t work without at least one negative!
> So now you can complete the circuit & switch on! What do ya
> know - IT works!!!



Not really sure what you're trying to say at the start there...a few too many glasses of red?

Nice anecdote about Oklahoma. I still actually agree with the original critics, but many have proved me wrong by its longevity.

Not sure you can draw particularly accurate parallels between Oklahoma and Temporo, but I get the gist of your point...yes, critics can be either proved wrong or ignored....


Cheers,
Craig

[%sig%]

As I don't exist anyway!
I will try & explain what I was getting at! It Was that historically the worst review/crit any production can ever get - is a good one!
In most cases when a productions promotes it self as being ‘acclaimed by the critics!’ What is actually meant, is the critics acclaimed it was crap!
The only thing any critique will ever reflect, if you take advantage, is added value to Theatre.
Most punters, after reading a review, will only ever remember the shows name & rarely relate accurately to the content of any crit.
So whatÂ’s any review/crit worth?
To the production - Publicity! To the performers - Ego! To the theatre - Box Office!
By the way Craig - I don’t even get to taste the ‘Red’ these days, as it comes in a plastic bag with a needle & tubes!

Chookas (may you always play to full houses)