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Post by foxa on May 8, 2018 9:13:40 GMT
Lyn Gardner has just confirmed on Twitter that after 23 years the Guardian hasn't renewed her contract.
I preferred Gardner to many other reviewers. She seemed a real champion of British Theatre, so this very much does not seem like a good thing.
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Post by Deleted on May 8, 2018 9:19:31 GMT
I have to assume (almost hope) that the Guardian are planning to phase out theatre reviews all together; Billington's 78 so won't be going forever (indeed, his Wikipedia entry is currently claiming he died last week but it seems to be the only place making that claim so take it as you will), and Lyn has always been not just a fair reviewer but also a real supporter of theatre and theatre practitioners.
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Post by foxa on May 8, 2018 9:51:21 GMT
Gardner is one of the few critics I follow on social media.
I don't think it will be good if the Guardian doesn't have theatre reviewers. Gardner seemed to have a real enthusiasm for the theatre - I wonder if that is out of fashion - if they'd prefer more controversial or sneery critics.
Interestingly, a playwright I follow wrote a nice bit in support of Gardner - and ended saying it wasn't because she'd personally supported him as she'd never given him more than 3 *s so that says something about the esteem in which she is held.
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Post by n1david on May 8, 2018 9:54:37 GMT
Lyn Gardner was also very plugged in to the theatre scene outside London and took a broader perspective on UK theatre than most critics and I’ll miss her for that alone.
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Post by Latecomer on May 8, 2018 9:56:20 GMT
Not pleased. I agree with foxa and also follow Gardner on Twitter.
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Post by dani on May 8, 2018 10:10:45 GMT
I doubt that the Guardian is going to stop covering theatre. Lyn Gardner's expertise in fringe and experimental theatre will certainly be missed, and I doubt that whoever is the future of the Guardian's criticism will know anything like as much about it.
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Post by Steve on May 8, 2018 11:02:21 GMT
Lyn Gardner was also very plugged in to the theatre scene outside London and took a broader perspective on UK theatre than most critics and I’ll miss her for that alone. Infuriatingly, that's probably why they let her go. The Guardian's circulation is already down below 150,000, and set to fall further, so their current business model is, and will remain, "worldwide clickbait," and they are one of the most successful clickbait operations, among British Newspapers, alongside the Mail newspapers. In theatre, worldwide clickbait revenue is generated by writing about Hamilton, Tina - The Musical, and anything starring Benedict Cumberbatch or a Hollywood star. Nobody in the US or Brazil is going to click on Lyn Gardner's review of an experimental theatre show on the fringe, so the article makes no clickbait revenue, and it's very publication may indeed lose cash. The Guardian's worldwide clickbait "brand" is in opposing Trump and opposing Nationalism, meaning that leftwingers will click on a Guardian article about those things to join the conversation. A successful article will be measured by the number of comments it accumulates. No doubt, Lyn Gardner's championing of UK fringe and regional theatre gets very little worldwide clickbait engagement, so the beancounters will say, no need for that, then. And that's a tragedy for UK theatre. Because Lyn Gardner has been busy watering theatre's most neglected seeds, which will one day replenish the forest of creative success that we have in theatre and the arts in this country. In what other industry do we contribute so much worldwide, or are we so highly regarded? And if Lyn Gardner, the smartest talent spotter in British theatre reviewing, isn't there to use her platform to water those artistic seeds, many artistic buds will shrivel and die. Very sad for the future of UK theatre.  |
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Post by peelee on May 8, 2018 11:03:05 GMT
"..his Wikipedia entry is currently claiming he died last week but it seems to be the only place making that claim.."
MB was at the theatre last night, looking alive enough, and good for his 78 years.
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Post by kathryn on May 8, 2018 11:58:59 GMT
Lyn Gardner was also very plugged in to the theatre scene outside London and took a broader perspective on UK theatre than most critics and I’ll miss her for that alone. No doubt, Lyn Gardner's championing of UK fringe and regional theatre gets very little worldwide clickbait engagement, so the beancounters will say, no need for that, then. To be honest, their theatre coverage in general gets few comments - sometimes only 1 or 2. Probably because we're all too busy nattering away on here (or the BroadwayWorld forums) to bother commenting on the Gruan. |
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Post by dani on May 8, 2018 12:27:35 GMT
Um, not true. There are 108 comments on their review (by Lyn Gardner) of Othello at Liverpool Everyman, 31 on Michael Billington's review of a recent show at Park Theatre, 49 on Lyn's review of Chess, 80 on Michael's review of Tina and 65 on his review of Chicago. Some reviews do only attract a handful of comments, but many gain a lot of traction.
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Post by Deleted on May 8, 2018 12:44:55 GMT
Is that the female Othello? I think I know what at least 80 of those 108 comments will look like without even having to check...
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Post by kathryn on May 8, 2018 12:48:27 GMT
I'm looking at the 'Reviews' section page right now - comment counts are 2, 0, 31 (that's 'Trump imposes martial law...'), 0, 0, 0, 11 ('Othello review'), 1, 49 ('Chess review'). Above the fold in the stage section we have 115 ('Afrofuturism'), 6, 108 ('Othello: Lesbian Moor boldly puts gender under microscope'), 57 (David Hare and James Graham interview), 10.
The stories and reviews getting lots of comments are mainly the ones with clickbaity headlines or the type of identity politics angle that the Gruan loves and always stirs up their commentariat.
The Othello review with 11 comments is of the same production as the one with 108 - it just doesn't have a clickbaity headline.
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Post by Deleted on May 8, 2018 12:50:35 GMT
Some reviewers are nothing but an opinion but Lyn has gone out of her way to encourage up and coming artists and young people in general. She is one reviewer whose absence will make a significant difference.
What hold does Billington have that he's allowed to go on and on?
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Post by Deleted on May 8, 2018 12:56:47 GMT
Comments sections aside, considering how creatives traditionally seem to feel about critics as a general rule, there's been an incredible outpouring of support from theatregoers and theatre practitioners alike. Had the Guardian decided instead to push Billington into retirement, there would be nowhere NEAR as much outrage as there is today.
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Post by Snciole on May 8, 2018 12:57:11 GMT
I think Fringe, even London fringe, will just get less and less coverage and Gardner is a casualty of this. I think all nationals are suffering and arts, as always, will be the first for the chop.
I hope she can continue at The Stage, I enjoy her reviews and comment pieces but she is unlikely to find a home anywhere else.
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Post by Jan on May 8, 2018 13:14:01 GMT
Not bothered she’s gone, her championing of fringe theatre was of necessity because she was always second string to Billington - when she did get some main stage stuff to review as often as not she leveraged her own political views into the reviews and so they were uninformative and unreliable.
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Post by Deleted on May 8, 2018 16:08:26 GMT
A real shame, as others have said she's one of a small number of London based mainstream critics to get out of London regularly. Not only that but to be a decently loud voice on the theatre she'd seen (and not just on the free champers and luvvie smoozing she could get). I hope she's able to continue on in some format.
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Post by learfan on May 8, 2018 17:17:08 GMT
Agree with prof brock. I never liked her, always annoying that she never mentioned cast members. So nothing to miss from me.
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Post by Deleted on May 8, 2018 17:45:39 GMT
Whether you agree with someone’s opinion or ‘like’ someone is not the point here. What she has done is to promote British theatre of all types, engaged with the theatre community rather than staying aloof and has promoted scores of companies that may have been missed. I could name others who don’t and, whether I like them, agree with them or not, that means that they are of less worth to British theatre.
I’m speaking here as someone who isn’t a fan of professional theatre criticism (I may have mentioned that previously!) I do know, however, that she was one of few who are much more than that.
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Post by n1david on May 8, 2018 18:12:04 GMT
Agree with prof brock. I never liked her, always annoying that she never mentioned cast members. So nothing to miss from me. That's an unusual allegation. Looking at her last three reviews in the Guardian (Chess, Othello and One Green Bottle), there are twelve cast members named... |
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Post by Deleted on May 8, 2018 18:16:24 GMT
Agree with prof brock. I never liked her, always annoying that she never mentioned cast members. So nothing to miss from me. That's an unusual allegation. Looking at her last three reviews in the Guardian (Chess, Othello and One Green Bottle), there are twelve cast members named... Oh I'm glad someone had the inclination to actually look. She might not give a run-down of all performers (thank god) but I don't think that's really a bad thing.... |
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Post by Deleted on May 8, 2018 20:17:26 GMT
"..his Wikipedia entry is currently claiming he died last week but it seems to be the only place making that claim.." MB was at the theatre last night, looking alive enough, and good for his 78 years. Thank God for that. Would be too much to lose Gardner and the Billy Goat in the same week. |
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Post by Phantom of London on May 8, 2018 22:10:30 GMT
The Guardian has gone downhill since becoming a ‘tabloid’.
Today’s announcement is further evidence of that.
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Post by joem on May 8, 2018 22:52:42 GMT
I think Fringe, even London fringe, will just get less and less coverage and Gardner is a casualty of this. I think all nationals are suffering and arts, as always, will be the first for the chop. I hope she can continue at The Stage, I enjoy her reviews and comment pieces but she is unlikely to find a home anywhere else. I despair at how little acknowledgement the Fringe gets for the important role it plays in feeding new talent into the mainstream and even in its economic contribution to the country. Even amongst theatre-lovers. |
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Post by Jan on May 9, 2018 6:01:07 GMT
Agree with prof brock. I never liked her, always annoying that she never mentioned cast members. So nothing to miss from me. Not sure I'd agree, in recent years she usually assiduously told us how many were black or white or whatever (but no similar count was available for Guardian journalists of course). . |
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