Comments on: Review: Talk Radio

By: Michael Clark

Michael Clark — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 19:20:30 +0000

Hi Mary. I just posted the transcript of our review of Talk Radio. Yes, this was one of our early reviews. And we’ve learned a lot since then. It was wrong of us to tell people not to see Talk Radio. I apologize for that. There were parts of the show we liked, and parts we didn’t. It was an uneven performance.

We do say why we didn’t like the placement of the upstage callers. It was hard to see, plus those callers were too removed from the main action.

Well, now you have seen a review of the web site and playbill. Hopefully the playbill will be better at the next show. The web site could still use some tweaking. For example, if someone gives $399 are they a backer or a devotee? Or $650 are they a devotee or an angel?

By: prestonharris

prestonharris — Thu, 03 Nov 2005 21:19:27 +0000

It was just ok – for local/high school theater. Audience seemed disinterested, but maybe they just had a bad meal before hand.

Maybe this play was more compelling/relevant 20 years ago?

By: maryb889

maryb889 — Thu, 03 Nov 2005 20:51:06 +0000

Oh.

My.

God.

I have never heard such an atrocious review in my life.

BTW: in the interest of full disclosure, I was a cast member of “Talk Radio”.

And, frankly, I don’t care that you didn’t like the show. That’s not why I’m commenting.

What bothers me is that you obviously have no theatre background or qualifications to actually review a play. If you did, you would have certainly been familiar with the show (at least have read the script). Then you could have been able to accurately deconstruct the production you saw. The fact that you didn’t even know the time period the show was set in (1985) proves that you do not have even the rudimentary skills to be a theatre reviewer who can be taken seriously.

You fell into the oh-so typical trap that novice theatre reviewers often fall into: you gave a synopisis of the play but never deconstructed the production itself. We were told you didn’t like the staging. You did like the ensemble but not the principles. We never learned WHY. All we heard was your not-very-informed opinion with no substance. Now you are certainly entitled to your opinion, but that hardly gives you the credentials to tell total strangers that this show isn’t worth attending.

What stunned me into a near stupor was the fact that you “reviewed” the website of the theatre company and the program for the show. Excuse me? Where did that come from? I cannot recall in my over 30 years of theatre experience having a review include commentary on the website (!) and the show’s program. I am so at a loss as to how to respond to that I’ll just have to leave it alone.

I’m sorry you feel you didn’t get your money’s worth. I didn’t know ticket prices were predicated on the number of acts or intermissions in a play. “Talk Radio” is hardly the only play to run without an intermission. My advice to you is to get out a little more often.