There are plenty of fantastic theatre blogs on the internet already (although less for London than I expected) so before getting underway I had to ask myself before beginning on this venture is ‘what am I trying to do differently?’
Well for a start, as the name suggests, this is written by someone who is peering through the looking glass. I am not ‘in the biz’, an ‘actor’, a ‘luvvie’ or even someone ‘following the craft’. However I am someone who has seen and read an awful lot of plays in my time, who is interested in what theatre means and what theatre can do. Some of my most abiding memories come from the theatre; a spellbinding performance by David Suchet as Salieri in Amadeus. Enjoying Rupert Goold’s rich and textured productions of Macbeth and Six Characters in Such of an Author, whilst being left feeling entirely alienated by the same director’s version of King Lear with the (greatly missed) Pete Postlethwaite.
At one point I started to list all the plays that I remember seeing but had to give up when becoming depressed over realising that I may well have forgotten seeing more than I remember. Ever since then I have become yet more obsessive compulsive and frantically keep the tickets from every show. It soon became apparent that looking at a ticket would trigger a memory, but often little more. Soon notes and reviews seemed like the only way to ensure that everything I see is tabulated, recorded and accounted for. And if I do it for myself, why not go the whole hog and share it with the world. These posts will contain my own personal view about the state of plays. I hope, over time, to widen its focus. Start to introduce articles, maybe a few interviews, add a sprinkling of news and rumour.
This site will by personal reflections on these plays; thinking about what they mean and how they go about telling us. It will be informed by dipping into the archive of my memory and supplemented by the fauxdemia that I have picked up along the way.
Ultimately it is to entertain and inform. Over time I hope to widen its focus; Start to introduce articles, maybe a few interviews, add a sprinkling of news and rumour. If you would like to get in touch about any aspect of the site or its content then please email: civiliantheatre@gmail.com
Civilian Theatre 