Mark Shenton moans about going to the theatre... again

www.thestage.co.uk/opinion/2016/mark-shentons-week-ive-just-taken-a-day-off-theatre-and-this-is-why/

It's a hard life.

Blimey, if he can afford to see Broadway shows, multiple, he can definitely afford to drop £20 for his +1 at the NT once in a blue moon.

Yes, I must admit I couldn't really see the point of his latest blog. They might just as well have printed his diary.

To me he comes across as wanting to show off with his busy theatrical schedule while making sure everyone knows how exhausting and demanding his job really is. Considering he is making a living with what he loves (theatre), goes on holidays regularly and owns an apartment in New York things really could be worse.

And doesn't he just love to name drop. I'm sorry, but to me he is an attention seeker.

OMG - this thread must be just pandering to his ego!

Nonsense!

We are all under arrest for bringing the theatreboard into disrepute. It's a fair cop!

www.thestage.co.uk/opinion/2016/mark-shenton-weighing-in-on-the-national-theatres-plus-one-controversy/?utm_content=buffer6745c&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

An interesting read. To be honest I've shared my views on this so many times that I'm tired of it. It's a shame that unsociable hours are a part of the job, but critics aren't the only ones who work late at night. I can see when Mark Shenton is coming from, but if a surgeon working a night shift started asking for a friends to be let into the emergency room with her, they'd be laughed at I'm sure. Theatre criticism is a job with a huge number of perks, and Mr Shenton is in a fortunate enough position to have a steady paid writing job, which is extremely rare. I appreciate that suddenly having your +1 taken away may have come as a shock,but constantly writing tweets and articles about it has already not done any good. I doubt yet another article is going to change anything. And besides, not all shows offer a +1 anyway.

Also, having been invited to 'review' a show for my 'blog' (Or as some would see it, invited to share my thoughts on that guy from the james bond films in this weird musical except there wasn't much dancing and the songs were not very happy etc etc. idk I don't even like theatre I'm just doing it for the freebies despite having spent £20 on the train and 3 hours of my life on traveling to and from the theatre... woe is me! ...Come on!) by the National Theatre a few weeks ago, and subsequently receiving positive feedback from them, the constant belittling of 'bloggers' and wannabe critics seems a bit uncalled for.

Still, Mr Shenton makes some interesting points. It'll be interesting to see if other theatres follow suit, or whether the National will subsequently reverse its position on the whole thing.

OMG I can't believe he's still going on about this - no one cares!

Yes - I do appreciate the value of having someone extra there as a sounding board, but really, it is a perk and as such you can't complain too much if it's taken away.

As for unsocial hours and not being able to see friends/family - welcome to lots of other people's worlds! My sister and her partner both have pressured jobs with a hefty commute. They also have children. There are days they only see each other for an hour at the end of the day. They live for the occasional weekend when they both happen to have a weekend off! But you've got to accept that just comes with work sometimes...or else find another job.

'Not again' was also my first thought but the following sentence made me really angry:

" In my capacity as an awards judge and theatre journalist, I too would put the merit of the show above the perks – but on a margin call, the extra ticket might swing my vote."

More or less admitting that he's open to bribery.

I do appreciate the part where Shenton admits it's annoying having to give up the perk because they've got used to having the perk and anyone would be disgruntled about losing something they've had for so long, but the rest of the article? Put on your big boy pants and get ON with it, Mark.