ROYAL COURT (see previous post), PAINES PLOUGH and SOHO THEATRE...
you are in trouble. Big trouble. We, the RLLS are on to you. Suck on this...
ROYAL 'we take credit for Ravenhill' COURT, you are (or purport to be) the dominant institution working in the new writing sector. Why then, do you produce so many half-baked novelty projects by wealthy, more than established, over the hill writers? If Caryl Churchill fans can be relied upon to come out in droves for her shitty new 4 minute play then send her to a seedy little fringe venue and let the new voices benefit from the plush surroundings - or RC, are you not confident enough in your recent discoveries (perhaps by switching to '100% emerging artists' you'd have to do something in the way of nurturing young artists other than evaluate them according to whether or not you can pronounce their last name). Additionally, am I the only one who is a) too poor and b) too insecure about his fashion sense to eat or drink in the Royal Court bar? The bookshop is one of the only places to purchase play texts at a reasonable price, so you got something right. Maybe turn the whole complex into a bookshop?
PAINES 'we also take credit for Ravenhill' PLOUGH, I have been an actor for you - a rat brought into the lab. And what did you do with us? You had us create our own characters, perform our own monologues (why were their freshly recruited writers there again?) and then divided us into groups. Each one of these groups was to represent a house and each house was assigned a writer. So, to recap...Paines Plough recruit a fresh batch of writers who are then supplied with actors, characters, a setting and plot (4 plots! - one from each monologue) and then given 2 weeks to write a ten minute play. AND THEN...when the results were shown they were even more stilted, turgid and sopa-opera-derivative than the original material generated by the actors on the first day. So, what did they do for 2 weeks? Sat around in the smug enducing knowledge that they were Paines Ploughs new batch - some of the finest playwrighting talent in UK.
SOHO 'we can't take credit for Ravenhill, but wish we could' THEATRE. You have a great location (very central, very chic) that is firmly on the map of both tourist and discerning londoner. The music and comedy programmers you share an office with do a sterling job - programming work that is both cutting edge and viable. Why then is all of your 'theatre' either a) as bland as Petunia cd collection or b) a token throwback to avant-guard work of the '90's? Now, not everyone has to be a fan of my work...but the least you could've done was offered something that resembled intelligent crit. That's right, cat out of the bag moment - I was aware that the actions of my characters 'could be more realistic'.
With a shadow of the affection I wish I had left for you,
Die Tie Die
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To lay my bias on the line: I've had interviews with two of those three companies for jobs I haven't gotten, had rejection letters from all three regarding playwrighting competitions, been on a workshop with one THAT MADE ME GET ALL ACTOR-TOUCHY-FEELY (how I loved that)and been sent the feedback for someone else's play from one (ah, Royal Court, bless your organisational prowess). I have, though, had useful, thoughtful feedback a few years ago from the Court (not the case with my last set of feedback which was clearly a cut and paste job) and more recently from the Soho. But even given all of that (and the fact that because of who they are and the money they have I will trot off to the post office once again and send them stuff): the most damning thing is probably that I don't go see the theatre they put on. It remains that I've been to the flippin' Finborough Theatre (and indeed the Arcola which is IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE) more times in the past year than I've been to either Soho or RC. And I'm the self confessed conservative theatre goer who loves to see new writing. If they can't excite me they REALLY have a problem.
ReplyDeletePS. I am too poor to go to the bar but am very secure about my dress sense. Floral all the way.
PPS. My record collection is not bland!