Shouts and Murmurs - March 26, 2024
On time and paywall-free! Open for interesting articles about ticket prices, musical theatre, people staging shows in their own flats, and more...
Hello, and welcome to Shouts And Murmurs, a weekly email for paid supporters of The Crush Bar, written by me, Fergus Morgan.
Every week, I round up the best theatre writing elsewhere - reviews, interviews, opinion, long-reads - plus any other interesting theatre-related stuff I find.
This week, thrillingly, I have removed the paywall so free subscribers can read the whole thing and see what they are missing out on. Guys, if you want to get this premium content in your inbox every week, you know what to do. It costs a mere £50/year or £5/month. Bargain.
This week: some real journalism about theatre ticket prices! Plus: review round-ups of Red Pitch, Faith Healer, A Taste Of Honey and a few more shows; links to interviews with Rob Icke, Bob Crowley, Greg Hicks and others; and a few more interesting things to click on.
Thanks for reading The Crush Bar, as always. If you want to do me one more favour, then you can share this newsletter and encourage others to subscribe via the button below.
Previously in The Crush Bar:
If you only read one thing: Dominic Maxwell investigates extortionate ticket prices…
Are we – theatre journalists, that is – too hard on theatres? Do we hold them to too high a standard? Are we too quick to condemn and too slow to forgive when they make a mistake? Do we only look for negatives and not positives? Where is the well-researched, investigative, nuanced journalism about theatre, apart from right here?
These questions have been on my mind a lot this week for several reasons. Firstly, in the wake of the news of VAULT Festival’s closure and the ensuing slew of articles – including mine – urging industry leaders to fill the gap it leaves behind, several people had the temerity to pipe up and point out that they were already doing exactly that.
Like Paul Smith, artistic director of Hull’s Middle Child Theatre, who tweeted:
“The rightful outcry about the loss of the brilliant VAULT Festival from people who write about theatre must be matched by an equal amount of energy supporting the coverage of new ventures.”
“At Middle Child, we’re finding it tough to gain meaningful industry coverage after launching our new writing festival Fresh Ink, which pilots this year. Yes, we’re not yet as big as VAULT but how are we expected to grow and build momentum when articles like this fail to acknowledge things that are being trialled and built with a similar remit, albeit outside the capital.”
Something similar happened on Twitter/X this morning, when The Stage’s account did a bizarre thing it sometimes does and posted an old article: not my interview with Succession’s Caitlin Fitzgerald, which it has shared about thirty times, but a piece by Lyn Gardner from January on dramatists turning to television because of the lack of interest and encouragement they were getting from the theatre industry.
Several industry leaders observed that they were already doing everything they could do to support playwrights. Derby Theatre’s Sarah Brigham, for example, who tweeted:
“Hello, @TheStage, pls come and see new play by @Abi_Zakarian on our main stage. Last season we had a new play by @RUKDIAH which you missed and one by @NathanPowell141 which you also missed. Regional theatre is supporting new writing when we can. Pls support us when we do.”
The Observer critic Clare Brennan summed up both sentiments more succinctly:
“I don’t understand this seemingly relentless attach on theatres, where people are doing their best to meet ever-increasing demands on their resources with ever-decreasing means.”
True to form, I have sympathy with everyone. Brigham and Smith are right that coverage of theatre outside London is dire, that plenty of projects go unheralded, and that there is a lot of lazy theatre journalism. However, The Stage, other publications, and those that write for them are not investigative journalists with limitless resources. Sweeping observations and snappy headlines – sorry about that – sell subscriptions and drive clicks, and it is tough to namecheck every exception in 500 words.
There will be more about this in Friday’s newsletter, but the gist is: theatre journalism is now so poorly paid that only total mugs – hi again! – can spend hours and hours on researching and writing articles. You generally have to get it out the door and move on to make a living. Would it were not so? Then why not become a paid supporter?!
It is worth celebrating – and clicking on! – well-researched writing about theatre when it comes along, then. And so to Dominic Maxwell’s recent long-read for The Times, which dives into the financial realities of running a West End show, features cris de coeur from Cameron Mackintosh, Nica Burns, Adam Speers, Howard Panter and more, and investigates whether charging £300 for a ticket is actually okay (it’s not but it’s complicated). Refreshingly, there are also contributions from more enlightened producers like David Pugh and Jon Thoday, who are trying to do things differently with shows like Operation Mincemeat and Shirley Valentine…
David Pugh, whose hits include Art and Calendar Girls, has long railed against “immoral” high prices. He thinks they reinforce people’s worst fears that theatre is unaffordable. When he produced Sheridan Smith in Shirley Valentine at the Duke of York’s Theatre in 2023 he first set maximum prices at £75. Then, after quickly selling £2 million of seats, the theatre owner, ATG, encouraged him to put them up to £95. After refusing to go up to £265 for the top seats Pugh compromised by going to £125. “Which was a terrible mistake,” he says.
Do your bit to show editors you care about thoughtful, thorough theatre journalism and read the whole thing here. Who knows? Maybe then we can have more of it.
The week in reviews: Red Pitch, Mind Mangler, Faith Healer, A Taste Of Honey, and more…
There’s less on reviews this week, partly because there are not that many shows to shout about and partly because, once again, I wrote more than I meant to above.
In London, Red Pitch is up in the West End, and everyone still loves it. Tyrell Williams’ three-hander about aspiring footballers in South London, gentrification and more is a “touching, hilarious and joyous drama about male friendship” for The Stage’s Sam Marlowe, “a feel-good, emotionally impactful and richly contemporary triumph” for The Telegraph’s Dominic Cavendish, and “90 minutes of end-to-end stuff” for The Evening Standard’s Nick Curtis (see what he did there?) Four stars all round.
“It’s one of those plays, too, where there’s some kind of alchemy between writer, director and actors. The way the trio move constantly, passing the ever-present ball, circling each other and chatting draws you into their private world…”
Also in London, Mischief Theatre’s Mind Mangler, transferring to the West End from the Edinburgh Fringe, is an enjoyably silly but predictable parody; Returning theatreland favourite Sister Act is still solid entertainment; and Rachel O’Riordan’s revival of Brian Friel’s Faith Healer is excellent because it’s Brian Friel’s Faith Healer. LondonTheatre’s Matt Wolf gives it five stars and reckons it is the play’s best London revival for 30 years. Star Justine Mitchell, who I interviewed, is “beyond praise.”
In Manchester, Emma Baggott’s revival of A Taste Of Honey has garnered some good reviews, but the critics are split over its contemporary relevance. Shelagh Delaney’s 1958 study of working-class Salford women remains “a brilliantly written, beautifully structured work of theatre, as worthy of revival as the socially conscious dramas of Ibsen,” writes The Telegraph’s Mark Brown, but The Guardian’s Nick Ahad wonders: “Why now?” And in Scotland, disability-led Birds Of Paradise Theatre’s satire about the inhumane bureaucracy of the benefits system, Don’t. Make Tea., is a show of two halves. The Guardian’s Mark Fisher liked the second but not the first. I liked the first and not the second. You can make your own mind up at Soho Theatre soon.
Also reviewed: Foam at the Finborough Theatre; Assembly Hall at Sadler’s Wells (and soon the Edinburgh International Festival; We’re Not Going Back in Doncaster; The Long Shadow of Alois Brunner in Manchester. Next time? There won’t be a next time. More details on why in Friday’s newsletter. Don’t worry, it’s nothing bad.
The week in interviews: Rob Icke, Bob Crowley, Greg Hicks, and more…
“He’s a criminal, not a jolly Santa figure.” The remarkable Rob Icke – who is responsible for several of my favourite shows of all time – has spoken to Sarah Hemming in The Financial Times ahead of Player Kings, his touring adaptation of Henry IV starring Ian McKellen.
“It doesn’t succeed despite the location; it succeeds because of it.” The new executive and artistic directors of Mold’s Theatr Clwyd, Liam Evans-Ford and Kate Wasserberg have chatted to Catherine Jones in The Stage, with their building currently undergoing a huge £49 million regeneration.
“Live performance will become increasingly treasured because you can’t fake it.” Legendary designer Bob Crowley spoke to Cara O’Doherty about his long and illustrious career for The Times.
“I have always had a touch of the kamikaze about me.” Over a five-decade career, actor Greg Hicks has done just about everything. I absolutely loved chatting to him for Stage Directions, my weekly bit in The Stage, ahead of him appearing in The Dream Of A Ridiculous Man at the Marylebone Theatre.
Also interviewed: Tamara Lawrance in The Guardian ahead of The Comeuppance at the Almeida Theatre; Rufus Wainwright in The Times ahead of Ivo Van Hove’s Opening Night in the West End; Nicholas Hytner in The Telegraph about a new Alan Bennett film; Gabriel Quigley in The Scotsman ahead of The Girls Of Slender Means at the Edinburgh Lyceum; Pete Townshend ahead of The Who’s Tommy on Broadway.
Further reading: Extinction Rebellion on Broadway, Olivier nominations, and flautist Keir Starmer
“Maybe our generation will seek to be radical or seek to be provocative in a different way.” Where are the bold, boundary-breaking theatre artists in their early twenties, the John Osbornes and Sarah Kanes of 2024? Alexander Cohen asks and answers that question in The Stage.
“Just don’t call this “Off-Off-Broadway.”” People in New York City are staging plays in their flats, apparently. Kenneal Patterson has written about why for Gothamist. I didn’t know this was a thing? Is it a thing in London? Why am I always the last to hear about stuff? Someone stage a show in my flat! (Don’t.)
My enduring memory of the phone call letting us know our ACE funding would be completely cut is the silence that followed.” Claire Murray, executive director of Newbury’s Watermill Theatre has written about how the venue has adapted to life outside ACE’s national portfolio in ArtsProfessional.
“Actors will often say they enjoyed the performance more than a Saturday night with a full house.” Kate Wyver has movingly written about dementia-friendly performances for The Guardian.
“Would we really want a world without Shakespeare, Pinter and Beckett?” Universities are cutting theatre departments and that is not good news. Georgia Luckhurst has reported on it in The Stage.
“We don’t develop musical theatre very well in this country. We don’t really support the development of musical theatre folks at all.” Another one by me: the week before last, I spent a happy day chatting to folk taking part in Dundee Rep’s musical theatre writing residency at Cove Park on the west coast of Scotland. You can read my write-up in The Stage here.
Also worth reading: a theatre critic writes a play; the problem with a Michael Jackson musical; more on Extinction Rebellion interrupting Kendall Roy on Broadway; and on the uproar about Blackout performances; and why Uncle Vanya is the play for today.
Also this week, two Substack recommendations from across the pond. Firstly, Brian Eugenio Herera’s #TheatreClique, which does something similar to this newsletter, but for Broadway and beyond. You can find his latest issue here:
And, secondly, The Scene, which has a focus on theatre education, but branches out to do all sorts of stuff, including this issue celebrating Women’s History Month with an article featuring 50 Woman Playwrights Every Theatre Person Should Know:
Distraction of the week: a topless Michael Owen is coming to save Shaftesbury Avenue.
The Fence has some entertaining ideas for shows to save theatreland. You can read them here. I particularly like the sound of Magic Mike XXL:
“In a homegrown take on the classic, Britain’s favourite Mikes strip for an audience of hysterical mums. Michael Palin, Michael Owen, Michael Caine, George Michael (in hologram format), Michael (Mick) Lynch, Michael Billington, Michael Bublé, Princess Michael of Kent. All of them stark bollock naked.”
That’s all for this issue of Shouts And Murmurs. I’ll be back in your inboxes on Friday with your regular issue of The Crush Bar. Thanks for reading and supporting this newsletter. If you don’t subscribe yet, then you can get this stuff straight in your inbox via the button below. If you are a free subscriber, then you can become a paid supporter here, too. Go on!
If you want to get in touch with me about anything at all, just reply to this newsletter, email me at fergusmorgan@hotmail.co.uk, or find me on Twitter/X, where I’m @fergusmorgan.
Have a good week.
Fergus