Post by isaacs on May 9, 2008 16:42:58 GMT 10
The following letter which I initiated - and with the stated signatories - was sent to the SMH today. I don't know if they intend to publish it.
Here's the letter in today's paper that prompted me to write it (it was featured very prominently at the top of the letters page above the cartoon in the hard copy version). I felt if "small theatre" could get their act together "small music" should follow suit. I actually invited classical, progressive pop and world music people to sign on to my letter above, but in the limited time available was only able to get signatories from the jazz world.
The compelling case made regarding the paucity of the Herald’s coverage of small theatre (“Lost in space, or lack of it. Good name for a play, perhaps”, May 8) could equally be mounted on behalf of music, particularly classical music and jazz amongst others.
The Herald’s music coverage seems obsessed by the celebrity of mainstream popular musical acts. As with major subsidised theatre, in music the opera, symphony, premium chamber music as well as international jazz acts also fare reasonably well. But “small” creative music made by locals (many of whom are recognised internationally) whether it be innovative jazz, progressive songwriting, cross-cultural world or classical new music, is only occasionally reviewed and almost never previewed or featured. Rarely are quality general articles exploring the exciting new artistic currents in these forms commissioned or reprinted from overseas.
The situation with the Herald’s sister paper The Age seems to be little different. Serious and punchy arts coverage – especially in the case of music – seems to be lacking here. What happened?
Mark Isaacs Bonnet Bay
Paul Grabowsky East St Kilda
Mike Nock Ashfield
Peter Rechniewski Annandale
Cameron Undy Surry Hills
Matt Keegan Petersham
Here's the letter in today's paper that prompted me to write it (it was featured very prominently at the top of the letters page above the cartoon in the hard copy version). I felt if "small theatre" could get their act together "small music" should follow suit. I actually invited classical, progressive pop and world music people to sign on to my letter above, but in the limited time available was only able to get signatories from the jazz world.
Lost in space, or lack of it. Good name for a play, perhaps
May 9, 2008
The Herald's reviews, interviews and articles provide vital information to both arts professionals and general readers about the state of performance in this metropolis. The fact that the Herald is reviewing almost no "small" theatre these days is disastrous for an industry already in dire straits.
The escalation of small theatre activity can be explained by the fact that state-funded mainstream theatres neither employ the pool of talent available in this city, nor cover the potential range of programming available from here and overseas. Small theatre closes this great divide with spirited, high-quality productions. The interaction between mainstream and small theatre is vital to both.
People working in small theatre now are often seasoned professionals paid little or nothing, having only the pleasure of the work to reward them.
Low budget as they might be, these are not amateur productions. Funds being short and publicity expensive, these works need to be reviewed for the public to know about them.
Sydney's rich tradition of small yet excellent theatre stretches back to 19th-century beginnings. More recently, the Nimrod Theatre, created in 1970 by Ken Horler, John Bell and Richard Wherrett, was small theatre which heralded a renaissance in gutsy Australian content continuing to this day.
Some of today's most inspiring theatre is still found in small church halls, beneath pub floorboards and, indeed, tiny spaces all over the city. It regularly features the work of our finest playwrights, actors and directors - experienced and emerging.
These small theatre productions have included Maeliosa Stafford's Sons of Ulster Marching Toward the Somme (Forbes Street Church Hall); Geoffrey Rush's Clowneroonies (downstairs at Nimrod); Richard Roxburgh's That Eye The Sky (in a Palmer Street church); Blue Remembered Hills, with a cast including Roxburgh and David Wenham (again at Forbes Street); and Patrick Dickson's inspired performance in the Gigli Concert at the Old Fitzroy Hotel. All of these productions were reviewed. Would they be now?
Depriving your writers of the responsibility to be forward-thinking and innovative, to discover stardom in embryo, to be a necessary part of the business they review, has deprived them of the "power to influence" that Herald critics like H.G. Kippax and Lindsey Browne once had and - in consequence - of their rightful public following. Picking a winner is an essential part of the newspaper's responsibility to its readership, and its popularity.
Arbitrary decisions undermine artists' commitment to their work, often robbing theatre lovers of good theatre. Who, ultimately, chooses what plays are reviewed and on what basis?
Maggie Blinco, Katharine Brisbane, Annie Byron, Kevin Jackson, John Sheedie, Penny Cook, Peter Carroll, Robert Alexander, Jane Harders, Bille Brown, Patrick Dickson, Dina Panozzo, Terence Clark, John Turnbull, Richard Cottrell Sydney
