Fringelog 2010 Meta: Casual Reviews and Angry Directors of Programming
So I may be a little late to this party, but I have just read Mack Male and Sharon Yeo‘s posts about their experience literally being heckled by a performer (Jeff Haslam, who is no small fry. He’s the Director of Programming at the Varscona Theatre) in the Edmonton theatre community for having the gall to review their plays and not be completely glowing in their reviews.
Obviously, as someone who casually reviews plays on this blog, this hits pretty close to home for me. Especially as someone who is not an expert in theatre, nor insulated by connections to people in the theatre community. I see the shows I want to see, I pay for my tickets almost every time, and I’m as entitled to say my piece about those shows as anyone else who does the same. I have been fortunate enough to only receive positive feedback from artists who I’ve reviewed, but to be fair because I tend to avoid plays I know I won’t like my average rating for shows I see is probably higher than most.
But I do call it like I see it when I see a play that I don’t enjoy, and while I know that reviews like that are very painful for people who put time and effort into the work they do, I feel that it’s very very important to respect your audience. Respecting your audience means accepting that sometimes they won’t like your work. And that means sometimes your play won’t do very well, because you miscalculated or because of the weather or because that glowing review you needed didn’t come in until late in the run.
To lash out at an audience member who paid you for the seat they sat in in your theatre is not respecting your audience. Though those of us who blog about our theatre experiences may make ourselves more obvious targets, what you’re telling everyone in your audience by lashing out like this is that they are not entitled to their opinion because they’re not educated enough to “get it.” These are the people who pay your bills.
I’m going to go one step further than Mack and Sharon. I’m not attending any performance at the Varscona until somehow this is resolved. Not for the rest of this Fringe, not for the next theatre season, and not at next Fringe. I’m sure my warm butt in their seats won’t be missed, because the Varscona is always home to popular shows (probably in part due to their pulling out of official Fringe venue status to become a BYOV so they can hand pick their shows), but I can’t support a theatre with a Director of Programming who apparently loathes his audience. That’s just not acceptable.
And that’s a shame, because there were things I was looking forward to seeing there still and it’s a great venue. But really, my money can go to artists who respect me.
Tags: Jeff Haslam, meta, rant
August 18th, 2010 at 12:36 pm
Very well said!
August 18th, 2010 at 1:13 pm
Fantastic point about seeing plays you want to see. (And about paying for your ticket and being able to say what you want.)
I had similar thoughts about taste when asked to write about the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. I told the ESO’s savvy social media guy I might not be able to critique the classics as a well-honed music scholar might. He was was more than happy to have someone with professionalism (and probably a following) writing about them, acknowledging the traditional media coverage of culture is usually something from Hollywood. And he let me know I didn’t have to tell people if the second flute was having an off night.
The reviews are happening, and rather than tell people to shut-up and stay away, businesses need to embrace the conversation that’s always taken place. It’s just taking place more visibly now.
August 18th, 2010 at 1:20 pm
I understand your disdain for Mr. Haslam, but not attending any performance at the Varscona is a little overboard. While Mr. Haslam is the Artistic Director of Teatro, he does not run the Varscona, it is currently shared by a number of Theatre Companies, and many have nothing to do with Mr. Haslam, nor do they share his morals (or lack there of). It would be a shame for you to miss out on the good theatre that happens year round at the Varscona.
These are sad times for Edmonton Theatre indeed. I don’t side with either force… but I fear the effects this will have on the Community.
August 18th, 2010 at 9:53 pm
@Peator: I would agree, but there is a direct conflict of interest in my eyes for a director of programming to have open disdain for audience members. He does not ONLY represent Teatro, he also represents the Varscona in a position of apparent authority (whether internally it’s just an administrative or figurehead role or not). It is in the latter post that I find his position more objectionable, actually, since I’m not a frequenter of Teatro to begin with. And I don’t think an apology is too much to ask.
I have also not asked anyone to join me in not attending things at the Varscona. I am not put out by missing good things, as if I were I would be eternally put out by all the wonderful things I miss out on every day. If other people feel as I do that this is an unacceptable action on the part of someone who holds a huge degree of influence in the theatre community, that’s their own choice.
Like my reviews, I only expressed my own disgust and what I’m doing about it. I actually don’t disdain Jeff Haslam. I understand that accepting criticism gracefully is difficult, and may even become impossible after suffering the eternal barrage of it that artists are forced to endure even when they’re the best of the best. I want nothing more than to see him do the right thing and accept responsibility for his actions, and admit that his reply to the post went above and beyond anything a reasonable person should ever say to another reasonable person.
He questioned her integrity, her right to have an opinion, and her right to express that opinion. And then he told someone who was enough of a fan of him and his company to buy a season pass (no small undertaking for most people) that she should never ever do so again. If he were just some random actor reacting badly, that would be one thing.