Before I start this is not a complaint. To be clear this is a bid for recognition of what small, low/non-profit theatre projects are actually trying to do...
I'm currently in the middle of a youth theatre project, it's exciting and stressful - the usual recipe for what it takes to put on a youth production or working with any theatre project towards the final product I'd say...
As I sit back and evaluate the project so far, I review the feedback, past and present, from my superiors and producers. Of course feedback is the key to development and as a leader of the project I am completely open and reliant on using the feedback as a different lens to challenge my view point. Am I done with explaining myself - I have no problem with feedback.
However what I'm noticing, time and time again, when it comes to low budget/non-profit projects, as people review and critique them, their is a fundamental factor they seem to either ignore or forget. A little obvious as it may seem, I find I need to point out how difficult it is to create theatre on very little budget and resources. Often the project leader is working all hours in the day to re-edit and make the script work, where in the real world would have a team working on it. The set, costumes and lighting etc would all have their own department where their is enough time for the luxury (yes, luxury) of a production meeting. And of course, a team - people that work together to get the best out of the project. But with lack of funds and resources, one is left with doing a bit of everything and of course the quality of what we do is impeded on. However we keep going, a labour of love for the joy of sharing and making theatre.
My questions for the reviewers: Does the Critique consider the above obstacles? Have they even thought about what is happening despite the given blocks? Before we compare the Fringe to the National Theatre, shall we perhaps compare the processes and ask - What if? What if the project had...? Would it have worked differently if...? In asking what if? We can then move on to the future of the project and celebrate it's next possibility, rather than assessing the surface of the work. In order to promote new writing and young new artists, I urge you next time you critique a low-budget theatre project, consider what the creatives were up against and inform your views on the subtext of the project - not just what meets the eye.
