Stage Takes

It has been at least a few weeks since I have went to go show. I have been thinking about posting my old reviews from the Hollywood Fringe Festival and interviewing a few artists. But in thinking more about reviews, why do we do them? Do we do them to advertise/warn the audience what to watch? I want people to be able to pick what interests them, I don’t want to be their conscience.

One will say, “I am thinking of seeing this show,” and another will say, “It has terrible reviews.” Reviews according to who? No one opinion can be considered objective, I believe. Yet, there are standards to art. But where do those standards come from? Pure creativity should not be judged. But is a theater piece pure creativity? It is, in most cases, a collaboration. Sure, a director has a vision — but does that vision change once an actor brings in their own (creative) preparation, or a set designer brings in their own creation?

Reviewing, then, is creativity in itself. It adds to the original vision by its own interpretation. That is to say the reviewer themselves come from a creative standpoint and not an institutional knowledge of good/bad. Does the reviewer feel? Is the reviewer able to be moved by the dramatic action of the story? I sure hope so. There are times were I have watched shows with my mind — the little calculations of each choice. I strive to move forward in watching shows with my heart, and not my mind.