The first thing to accept about reviewing local theatre is that you are rarely reviewing the next West End transfer. You are reviewing a Thursday performance in a converted church hall, where the sound desk is run by a volunteer, the set was painted last weekend, and someone in row C is quietly weeping because her grandson has just delivered his first soliloquy in public. None of that makes it a lesser kind of theatre. It does make it a different job.
Know what you are watching
Before you go, establish what kind of company this is: a youth theatre, a community group, a semi-professional outfit, a university society, a touring fringe company. Programmes usually tell you, and the distinction matters, because the aims differ. A youth production is partly an education. A community show may exist so that forty people have somewhere to be on a Tuesday. A semi-professional company charging full price is inviting professional judgement.
Know the room, too. A flat floor with no rake makes sightlines a lottery; a low ceiling will swallow a band; no wing space turns every exit into a walk. Understanding the constraints stops you mistaking a limitation for a failure of imagination.
Prepare, then put the notebook away
If the play is a classic, read it beforehand. Watching a familiar text makes a director's choices visible. Do not, however, read six other reviews on the train. Arrive early, buy a programme, find a seat where you can see and hear.
Keep your notes fragmentary — "Puck: rushing the verse", "lighting change, Act Two, lovely", "second half sags after the interval". If you find yourself writing sentences instead of watching, stop. And if your partner is in the chorus, or you acted with this company last year, declare it in the piece or hand the assignment to someone else.
What to watch for
Hold a few questions open as the evening unfolds:
- Story: could you follow it? Where exactly did you lose the thread?
- Voice: did you hear the words, particularly in verse, or was anyone fighting a band?
- Pace: where did it drag, and what caused it — lines, scene changes, hesitation?
- Choice: note one specific decision that worked and one that did not.
- Ensemble: were the smaller parts played as people, or as filler?
- Design: did set, light, sound and costume serve the story or compete with it?
Two or three of these, described precisely, will carry a whole review. "The cast were excellent" tells a reader nothing.
Be fair without being soft
This is the hardest balance in regional criticism, and the one readers notice most. Amateur does not mean exempt from criticism; it means calibrated. Condescension is easy to detect and nobody thanks you for it. Write about the work, not the person: "the second half lost its nerve when the pace dropped, and the comedy went with it" is useful. A verdict on someone's ability is not, and it gives a director nothing to act on.
Warmth and honesty are not opposites. A two-star notice can be generous in tone and still plain about what went wrong. Remember who reads you: the cast, their families, teachers, funders and next week's audience. If the show is poor, say so once, clearly, then spend the rest of the review explaining what you actually saw.
Writing it up
Open with the thing you would tell a friend on the way home, not with a plot summary. Include the essentials — company, venue, dates, whether it is worth an evening — and give unfamiliar plays a line or two of context. Quote dialogue sparingly. Name the leads, the standouts and the creatives, and check every name against the programme twice; misspelling a teenager's name in print is the error readers remember.
Avoid the synopsis trap. A review is not a retelling, and for a murder mystery or a new play, spoilers are a betrayal. Length should match the event: four to six hundred words is plenty for most community shows, longer only when there is something real to discuss. If your outlet uses star ratings, make sure the stars and the prose agree.
Deadlines, tickets and the awkward bits
A review published after the run closes is a post-mortem, not a service. File on time. Ask for a press ticket in advance and declare it. Decline meals, drinks and gifts. If a company rings to complain, correct any factual error quickly and visibly, and do not argue about taste. If a sentence could be read as a factual allegation about someone's conduct, check it thoroughly before filing and take your editor's advice. Keep your notes for a few months.
A final check before you file
- Does the first paragraph tell a reader whether to go?
- Are the names and the running dates right?
- Have I described at least one specific moment?
- Is the criticism aimed at the work rather than the person?
- Would I be comfortable if the director rang me tomorrow?
- Does the rating match the writing?
- Is it in before the deadline?
Do that, and you will have written something a company can learn from, a reader can trust, and a local arts scene is better off for. The next show opens on Thursday.
Photo: Gu Bra / Pexels
