Theatre Reviews

Lest you all get the impression that I’ve been doing no writing whatsoever during my blogging hiatus, I’m here to set you straight. Thanks to a new project started at my university this term, I’ve discovered the joys of the press ticket! The project is Online Theatre Review, and it was actually started in Oxford in 2009. But this year it is bigger and better than ever, with branches in Bristol, Cambridge, and (most importantly for me) Durham. Two students are sent to review the first night performance of every production in the city in question, and must then post a review at 10AM the next day. It’s been tough given my current internet situation, but the press tickets are just too shiny to resist.

My first review was last week, of Jack and the Beanstalk at the Gala Theatre. It started out as something of a disaster, with there being no record of my fellow reviewer and I being on the system. But, after a lot of liaising with management, we were put in the “special seats”. They looked just like all the other seats to me, but they did come with a chatty seven year old in the row in front who kept spinning around to tell us things about the performance and look longingly at our reviewing snacks, earning disapproving glares from his grandmother.

Last night, I saw The Improvised Pantomime at the Assembly Rooms, which was not quite as exciting or eventful, but nonetheless an enjoyable experience. I have my final review of the term next Tuesday, and I have to say I can’t wait!