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Post by partytentdown on Apr 20, 2016 7:34:01 GMT
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Xanderl
Member
Not always very high value in terms of ticket yield or donations
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Post by Xanderl on Apr 20, 2016 7:42:14 GMT
Quite an interesting read I thought! He's not saying anything that isn't here (eg on the toilet jinx thread)
Found this pretty shocking -
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2016 7:44:53 GMT
Ugh that man agrivates me so much!!
He's against nearly everything and if he doesn't like it then he's so opinionated that he'll make you not like it. It's his way or the high way.
It's like Bend it like Beckham not winning any awards and he's says there's no diversity. Erm.... No! It's because it was a naff show. There was a fair bit of diversity at the Oliviers this year but I understand there could've been more.
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Post by partytentdown on Apr 20, 2016 7:52:44 GMT
Quite an interesting read I thought! He's not saying anything that isn't here (eg on the toilet jinx thread) Found this pretty shocking - It's just that everything he writes is a whinge. I must have heard 5 or 6 times in the last couple of years about how much he hates the Trafalgar Studios and how bad the loos are at the Union (or his other favourite topic, that time he told a celebrity to be quiet at the Barbican). Sure, we have crappy old Victorian theatres with poor facilities, poor us - we know this and they're doing their best to sort it out. Do you have nothing else to say about theatre? Because I could name 20 bloggers and commenters who have interesting, thought-provoking things to write about on and off stage that wouldn't involve hearing about his bloody hip on a loop every week for all time. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2016 8:13:06 GMT
He really does irritate me. This was compounded when I sat behind him at a show and watched him sit, arms folded through the entire thing and not applaud, even at the curtain call. Now fine, if you don't want to applaud after every musical number but it is both etiquette and common decency to applaud at the end. It just reeked of him being too 'above' all that as a critic.
He also frequently refuses flat out to attend things outside of London. And we all know his opinion that good theatre doesn't extend beyond the M25. See likewise another contemporary of his who said 'Why would I see that when I saw the original in London' for every regional production suggested. And yet would see countless mediocre revivals in London.
End of rant...for now.
However those disabled access issues are indeed appalling and I'm shocked theatres get away with it.
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Post by Honoured Guest on Apr 20, 2016 8:42:23 GMT
He also frequently refuses flat out to attend things outside of London. And we all know his opinion that good theatre doesn't extend beyond the M25. See likewise another contemporary of his who said 'Why would I see that when I saw the original in London' for every regional production suggested. And yet would see countless mediocre revivals in London. Yes, agree to all of the above. And it infuriates me that when he does endlessly puff some selected instances of UK theatre outside of London, it's always because it's a tentacle of his own chosen West End-centric world. For example, he's suddenly started repeatedly announcing a new golden age for Theatr Clwyd because his mate Tamara Harvey is running it, whereas he virtually ignored it through the nearly two decades that Terry Hands was there, saving it from various threats of closure and nurturing and establishing an astonishingly rich company of associate actors. Mind you, I would view it as a potential embarrassment if Mark Shenton landed on my theatre and started gushing about it. It would be a sign of the theatre addressing a smug theatrical coterie and looking away from the real world. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2016 8:59:03 GMT
Indeed!
Smug, self centred and self serving.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2016 9:13:33 GMT
I had to stop following him on Twitter - he is such a grumpy self-important git!
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Post by trapdoor on Apr 20, 2016 9:17:41 GMT
Oh and his ENDLESS championing of Bend It Like Beckham. If it was written by anyone other than his best friend he'd have hated it and ripped it to shreds.
The lame face-on-a-mug thing was the final straw.
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Post by partytentdown on Apr 20, 2016 9:40:56 GMT
Ha I forgot he has his own range of mugs.
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2,529 posts
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Post by n1david on Apr 20, 2016 15:48:46 GMT
As if to prove the point, note how he effortlessly turns the death of a national figure into being about himself:
(And I see he's still doing that nasty trick of tagging people when he's negative about them, even though I suspect Victoria Wood's team have more on their minds at the moment.)
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Post by partytentdown on Apr 20, 2016 16:01:26 GMT
As if to prove the point, note how he effortlessly turns the death of a national figure into being about himself: (And I see he's still doing that nasty trick of tagging people when he's negative about them, even though I suspect Victoria Wood's team have more on their minds at the moment.) Wow. What an entirely inappropriate thing to say. Should be ashamed. |
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749 posts
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Post by horton on Apr 20, 2016 16:25:14 GMT
Self-promoting nincompoop- god knows how he has risen to the level he has!
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4,038 posts
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Post by kathryn on Apr 20, 2016 19:01:06 GMT
I always end up defending Shenton, despite finding him personally annoying and hypocritical, because his basic points on this subject are sound. Theatres should have adequate toilet provision for all their audience members - including the disabled ones - should try to make sure that as much of the audience can see as much of the show as possible, and should provide a reasonably comfortable seat. Going to the theatre shouldn't be an endurance test.
I don't think anyone here really disagrees with this?
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Post by peggs on Apr 20, 2016 19:06:49 GMT
As if to prove the point, note how he effortlessly turns the death of a national figure into being about himself: (And I see he's still doing that nasty trick of tagging people when he's negative about them, even though I suspect Victoria Wood's team have more on their minds at the moment.) Now I read his quote and thought he meant he had written a poor review, as in it was badly written but on second thoughts realised he meant he reviewed it as being awful right? Why would you repeat your view that someone's work was bad when they've just died? I do remember some reviews being very picky at the time Acorn Antiques was on stage but I also remember myself and my family on the most uncomfortable wooden benches laughing ourselves silly. How very crass of him. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2016 19:20:34 GMT
I always end up defending Shenton, despite finding him personally annoying and hypocritical, because his basic points on this subject are sound. Theatres should have adequate toilet provision for all their audience members - including the disabled ones - should try to make sure that as much of the audience can see as much of the show as possible, and should provide a reasonably comfortable seat. Going to the theatre shouldn't be an endurance test. I don't think anyone here really disagrees with this? To be fair, you're totally right. I find the bloke annoying but there's nothing in that article I disagree with, and generally he is on the side of reason when it comes to audience behaviour. I will restrain my irritation! |
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Post by n1david on Apr 20, 2016 19:20:43 GMT
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Post by kathryn on Apr 20, 2016 19:43:50 GMT
As if to prove the point, note how he effortlessly turns the death of a national figure into being about himself: (And I see he's still doing that nasty trick of tagging people when he's negative about them, even though I suspect Victoria Wood's team have more on their minds at the moment.) Wow. What an entirely inappropriate thing to say. Should be ashamed. If it's any consolation, I don't think that is her Twitter account - it's set to private and there's no verified tick. Also her 'official Twitter account' has been tweeting using a different handle. So it looks like he just tagged some random woman who also happens to be called Victoria Wood. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2016 20:02:17 GMT
I read Shenton's Victoria Wood tweet as fondly meant. The ridiculousness of being put in the position of interviewing the person whose show he'd slated, during the run of that show, would be something Wood would have found pretty funny herself, I imagine, had she known! I'm sure he meant no offence.
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Post by theatremiss on Apr 20, 2016 20:59:44 GMT
He also frequently refuses flat out to attend things outside of London. And we all know his opinion that good theatre doesn't extend beyond the M25. See likewise another contemporary of his who said 'Why would I see that when I saw the original in London' for every regional production suggested. And yet would see countless mediocre revivals in London. I've seen him twice at my local theatre, it's outside the M27 and 1hr 40 on the train from London. He's also been to Sheffield and Kenilworth to my knowledge. |
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Post by n1david on Apr 20, 2016 21:08:29 GMT
Wow. What an entirely inappropriate thing to say. Should be ashamed. If it's any consolation, I don't think that is her Twitter account - it's set to private and there's no verified tick. Also her 'official Twitter account' has been tweeting using a different handle. So it looks like he just tagged some random woman who also happens to be called Victoria Wood. Yes, you're right, and that's good (I think). Doesn't change the principle that it's pretty mean to @tag people when you're slagging them off, as he often does. |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Apr 20, 2016 21:10:12 GMT
Sounds like he's simply affirming many of the oft repeated complaints we make on this very forum about toilets, seat comfort etc etc.
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Post by Phantom of London on Apr 20, 2016 21:47:36 GMT
It's pretty gaoling complaing about facilities, when you don't pay for your ticket, like we do.
As for disabled toilets, as far as I am aware all toilets on Broadway are inaccessible, or should I say 'handicap'.
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Post by Honoured Guest on Apr 20, 2016 23:25:51 GMT
as far as I am aware all toilets on Broadway are inaccessible, Yes, you'd have to cross 3,000 miles of ocean just to get to them. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 21, 2016 7:48:25 GMT
He also frequently refuses flat out to attend things outside of London. And we all know his opinion that good theatre doesn't extend beyond the M25. See likewise another contemporary of his who said 'Why would I see that when I saw the original in London' for every regional production suggested. And yet would see countless mediocre revivals in London. I've seen him twice at my local theatre, it's outside the M27 and 1hr 40 on the train from London. He's also been to Sheffield and Kenilworth to my knowledge. He does go to regional theatres yes, but only certain ones he deems 'worthy' or that have his #stagey mates associated with them. I totally appreciate that London is where he's based and obviously that'll be where most of his work is I just don't appreciate him (and others) making comments that translate to 'nothing worth seeing happens outside London' |
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Post by n1david on Apr 21, 2016 18:59:15 GMT
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649 posts
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Post by theatremiss on Apr 21, 2016 21:21:22 GMT
I know as a reviewer I would find it extremely difficult to travel to Sheffield, Plymouth, Manchester to see a show and thankfully I only have to worry about the region I review and am responsible for. I do regularly travel nearly 2hrs to Chichester or 55mins to Southampton so in a way I understand the difficulties in getting out to another area. Chichester as mentioned in the link in the above post is notoriously difficult to get to. Personally I could not manage it by train and it would take me more than 15mins to negotiate the roads, not to mention the petrol or parking fees to get to some venues. That aside if a newspaper cannot pay for a London centric journo to review then perhaps they should send someone that lives closer to the venue. It's what The Reviews Hub does. It's a shame What's on Stage don't feel fit to review in the regions anymore, but personally just because a reviewer doesn't review out of their area I really don't have a problem with that.
I don't mind Mark Shenton and after all if any of us were offered free tickets to a show and we could have our costs paid too I doubt any of us would turn it down
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Apr 21, 2016 21:28:56 GMT
I know as a reviewer I would find it extremely difficult to travel to Sheffield, Plymouth, Manchester to see a show and thankfully I only have to worry about the region I review and am responsible for. I do regularly travel nearly 2hrs to Chichester or 55mins to Southampton so in a way I understand the difficulties in getting out to another area. Chichester as mentioned in the link in the above post is notoriously difficult to get to. Personally I could not manage it by train and it would take me more than 15mins to negotiate the roads, not to mention the petrol or parking fees to get to some venues. That aside if a newspaper cannot pay for a London centric journo to review then perhaps they should send someone that lives closer to the venue. It's what The Reviews Hub does. It's a shame What's on Stage don't feel fit to review in the regions anymore, but personally just because a reviewer doesn't review out of their area I really don't have a problem with that. I don't mind Mark Shenton and after all if any of us were offered free tickets to a show and we could have our costs paid too I doubt any of us would turn it down London to Manchester by train 2hours Similar for London to Sheffield. Im just back from a meeting in London, I left my home at 05:45 this fine morning and rolled in at 21:45. Sadly I didn't see a show, itvwas rather less glamourous than that. Thousands and thousands of normal people do this. It's work. That's why they pay us, isn't it? |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 21, 2016 21:39:20 GMT
To be fair, if I had his health troubles, I wouldn't much fancy a four-hour round trip, with potentially another 3 hours sitting in a theatre seat, either!
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Post by partytentdown on Apr 21, 2016 21:42:58 GMT
I understand he's based in London and has health issues, I get that... it's just the repetitive...whingeing...about the same stuff. We KNOW the Trafalgar is uncomfortable. WE KNOW! WRITE ABOUT SOMETHING ELSE!
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