LETTER: Appalling Reviews

The low level of professionalism exhibited in a great deal of the play reviews written for The Daily Pennsylvanian is appalling. Is there no one on the staff who can advise your writers as to the fundamentals of writing theatre criticism? Firstly, a review should not be a "People's Choice" award. The opinion of the critic should not be affected by the audience's reaction. The general idea of criticism is that the person writing it should have firm opinions and a knowledge of the subject he is writing about. Every time a critic mentions the audience's cheers or boos, it takes credibility away from the reviewer's own ability to judge the piece by its own merit. Secondly, it should be known that there are usually many more people involved in a production than just actors and the director. One can only imagine what a production would be like without lighting, a set, a stage manager, props, costumes, etc. The production staff is usually chosen with as much discretion as the actors are. They deserve mention whether the final product is a success or failure. As a rule, it seems, that the production staff is omitted from all reviews. In fact, even the director's name escapes the critic's pen quite often. Finally, a critique is not a plug for the show. The prewrite is responsible for describing the play and production at an objective standpoint. The reviewer should look at a play with a critical eye and not be afriad to write what he believes to be flawed with a production. Daily Pennsylvanian reviews are sugar-coated to no end. When, in fact, a critic is so bold as as to actually criticize, it is usually for something trivial or irrelevant such as "opening night jitters." I know that column space is limited, as is the time the critic has to write the review, but that is par for the course in theatre criticism. If the critics and staff of The Daily Pennsylvanian cannot handle that responsibility, perhaps plays at the University of Pennsylvania should go unreviewed. GIDEON EVANS College '93

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