Want to Write a Review?
At this time we do not have our own specific reviewers, but if you’ve just seen a show and you want to share your opinion about it, we’d love to hear it! Not all reviews submitted will be published, and anything that does get published will go through an editing process to make it as polished as it can be. We will be editing for clarity and formatting, not content and opinion. Please take a look at the following guide and instructions.
PREPPING FOR THE SHOW
You may choose to do research on a show before going to see it, or you may decide to come into it completely fresh. I usually avoid getting a full synopsis (anything more than what is on the company's website) before seeing it, as I want to experience story beats live for the first time if I am able. There is a different emotional impact in a well-done show if you are experiencing it all for the first time as opposed to anticipating what comes next.
Make sure to double and triple check the details. Where is the show? What time is curtain? How is the parking situation there? What is the dress code like, if any? Eliminate variables by arming yourself with information.
SEEING THE SHOW
Count on being too early. Early enough that you have to go grab a cup of coffee across the street, if you can get there soon enough. There are a lot of perfectly reasonable things that can make you late, but no excuse feels like a good one to a company that reserved a free ticket for you. Our relationship with theatres, even when we end up writing a negative review, is founded on respect.
Do not volunteer that you are a reviewer. Ideally, we are treated no differently than the average audience member. If someone asks if you are a reviewer, definitely tell them. But if you can manage to get through the whole show without anyone spotting that you are the reviewer, that is absolutely for the best. I have known more than a few critics who have a very elevated sense of self-importance, but the truth is, we are no better or more important than the people next to us who paid to be there. If anything, let's be more grateful that we get the chance to be there.
Please do not take notes during the performance. I'm sure you have seen reviewers doing this, and it irritates me to no end. If you feel you might forget some details before you get home, feel free to make notes in a pad or in your program during intermission. But there are two really big problems with taking notes during shows.
1: The actors can spot that immediately. If everyone is facing front, and one person is staring at their notepad, they know what's going on right away. And now they are distracted both by what you are doing and the mere fact that you are there. Then word spreads that there's a reviewer in row D, and every actor will spot you for the rest of the show.
2: If your head is in your notebook, you are out of the world of the play. We need to be analytical, but we don't have to be objective robots to do that. Let the experience take you away, if it is good enough to do so. You don't have to have a different experience than the rest of the audience in order to effectively review the show.
Don't feel like you have to sneak out after the show. If you want to greet the cast, greet the cast. Again, don't share that you are a reviewer, but you can absolutely congratulate them on a job well done.
You should never, under any circumstances, begin talking about your analysis of the show until you are back in your car. The temptation will be there at intermission. It will be there right after the show. But it is entirely possible that you will be seated right next to a producer, director, artistic director of the theatre, or even the playwright. And even if you are not, your fellow audience members deserve to draw their own conclusions and have their own discussions without your knee-jerk thoughts.
Make sure to keep your program.
PREPPING THE REVIEW
You may want to jot down some thoughts that evening before you go to sleep, so you don't lose them. But I never write a review that same day. I need time to gather my thoughts, to reflect on the production. Sometimes, under further analysis, my initial thoughts may not hold up. I may feel differently about what I saw and felt after 24 hours.
If you need more detailed information about some element of the production, send a message or email to the company (after you double check your program to make sure it isn’t in there). If you get factual information about the show wrong, it doesn't matter how good or bad the review is, because they are going to completely disregard it.
A Note about Conflicts of Interest
It is a common misconception that journalists must be completely free of conflicts of interest to be fair and objective. Not only is that untrue, but it is a completely impossible standard to achieve. You will encounter people you know in shows. It is unavoidable. Every reviewer of every medium encounters this. Film reviewers know directors and actors. Food critics know chefs. Even political journalists go out for drinks with politicians when they are off the clock. What matters is your integrity and standards.
That being said, here is a short list of conflicts that we do not want to encounter:
You should not review a show with a significant other, recent ex, romantic interest, or roommate involved.
You should not review a show for a company you will be working with this season.
You should not review a show you know you hate. The best production of Cats ever will still be trash to me.
Below is a sample review, as a guide for the kind of structure I typically use for reviews. I have some kind of intro paragraph (perhaps about how I relate to the show, or how the show is relevant to modern discourse), A paragraph with a very simple synopsis (poorly-written reviews always read like book reports), and then paragraphs detailing my opinions. I always find both positives and negatives. I’ve never seen a great show without faults, and I’ve never seen a terrible show without highlights. Usually I put my prevailing opinion first, so if I like a show, I lead with all the positives. I then end with a conclusion paragraph and the details of the run and where to buy tickets, etc.
A note on negative reviews: Sometimes, a show just isn’t good. It happens. If I have a lot of negative opinions about a show, it is critically important that I get as specific as possible about why I didn’t like something. It is absolutely not enough just to say you don’t like a show or don’t like a performance. You have to really analyze why these particular elements did not work for you. In almost all of the negative reviews I have written, I have spoken with people in the production afterwards. Not only were those people not offended, but they understood and agreed with most of what I had written, because I had done so in a way that was specific and constructive.
SAMPLE REVIEW
This year I became a father, and it seems inevitable that when you are contemplating a new life, you must face the reality of your own inevitable mortality. My daughter will grow up, she will become an adult, and one day I will leave her behind. Is that something to be feared? What if it didn’t have to happen at all? Those questions lie at the heart Onyx Theatre’s fantastically performed production of “Tuck Everlasting”.
“Tuck Everlasting” has been causing existential crises in elementary schools since the novel was published in 1975. The musical, with music by Chris Miller, lyrics by Nathan Tysen, and book by Claudia Shear and Tim Federle, had its debut in 2015, and has a distinctly modern flair (especially the score). The story follows 11-year-old Winnie Foster, who stumbles upon a hidden, magical spring on her property and a family whose lives the spring changed forever. The titular Tuck family drank from the spring a century prior, and have been grappling with the aftermath of their immortality ever since.
To put it briefly, this production is beautiful, well staged, and features many stand-out performances. This is a show with some wonderfully danceable numbers, and director/choreographer Jessica Binderman seems to be perfect for the job. She has put these performers through their paces, and they have all risen to the occasion. Dance is central to the story and its telling, so it is no wonder that Binderman seemed to connect with it so deeply. This is some of the best choreography I have seen in a community house.
On top of the brilliant choreography, there are some great performances on display. Celia Andrews and Brad Johns hit all the right notes as the friends at the heart of the story. Their dancing is electric, their chemistry is wonderful, and (because they are playing children), their broad enthusiasm works well. Sam Kinnis also shines as the patriarch of the Tuck clan, Angus, nailing the emotional depth of the gorgeous song “The Wheel” (which also does a great job of highlighting Nancy Booth’s set and Emily Hausenbach’s lighting design; both of which are subtle and effective).
The main flaw with the piece lies in the writing: there are simply too many songs. I know, I know, criticizing a musical for having songs seems a little unfair. But several times throughout the show there is a song, then right before the scene ends there is another song which could have easily (and more effectively) been just a few lines of dialogue. Most egregious is the late second act song “You Can’t Trust a Man”. It’s fun, it’s performed well by Randall Williams and Larry Stamili, and it is absolutely unnecessary. Stuck right before the best song in the show and right before the climax, it sends the story to a screeching halt for several minutes and adds almost nothing to the plot. This is just one of several times where songs that should have been cut from the script threaten to push everything off course, and it is to this production’s credit that these are minor annoyances and not a really big deal.
While I can appreciate that the source material is from a children’s story, some of the characters are played too broadly to be believable. Winnie (Andrews) and Jesse (Johns ) carry those broad strokes into characters that can contain the lack of subtlety, but the piece lacks a strong villain because the Man in the Yellow Suit (Bill Daines) is so arch and over-the-top that the threat never feels important. It is a strong performance, but almost feels in a completely different production when compared to the subtle stories that Angus (Kinnis) and Miles (Tyler Morrison) have to tell.
These flaws do little to detract from Onyx Theatre’s stunning production. It has an abundance of heart, an incredible level of polish, and features some of the best performers in town. You’d be doing yourself a disservice to miss out on this early Christmas present.
“Tuck Everlasting” runs from November 2nd-December 15th at Onyx Theatre, 1150 1st Street, Medford. Tickets range from $20-$40 and can be purchased at www.onyxtheatre.org
Ready to submit your review? Email it to theatreinoregon@gmail.com and let’s get to work!