Cristín Leach is an art critic with the Sunday Times, and a regular Culture contributor. She is taking part in a panel discussion about The Role of the Critic as part of Cruinniú na Cásca on Easter Monday, April 17 at Dublin Castle. Here, she offers a few thoughts on the subject.
Last February, two plays by Enda Walsh ran concurrently, in Dublin and Cork. At The Abbey, a touring production of Walsh’s critically acclaimed 2016 Galway Arts Festival production, Arlington; in Cork, in the disused city jail, a new play called The Same.
Two days before The Same closed, Corcadorca Theatre Company shared a review of its production on Facebook, with the words "Hmm, I don't think she liked it lads..." There were some hashtags too: #artmatters #nohardfeelings #strongopinionswelcome. The link led to Emer O’Kelly’s piece in the Sunday Independent, which described the play as having "a dream team cast of… sister actors Catherine Walsh and Eileen Walsh", but went on to say “The problem with The Same is that for all its verbal fireworks (and two gut-wrenching performances from the two actors) the play only skates across the territory… Walsh is more than capable of delivering on his theme, but a few more drafts are badly needed."
Theatre companies never question a critic's professionality when the review is good.
I saw both productions. Arlington was polished, crafted, measured and fully formed. The Same felt rough around the edges, which was part of its charm, but O’Kelly’s insight is valid: she felt the script wasn’t ready yet, it could have been better. The Same is about two women, trapped in some sort of psychiatric setting, who discover they are in fact one person: each other.
Corcadorca’s sharing of O’Kelly’s review was notable because it is so rare for a theatre company (or venue, gallery, writer, artist or actor) to publicise negative criticism with a #nohardfeelings attitude.
Really impressed when art makers/producers share negative reviews on social media. Doesn't happen often enough 👏 @CorcadorcaCork #criticism pic.twitter.com/4EB3RGQQ9d
— Cristín Leach (@cristinleach) February 26, 2017
The company was surely emboldened by the fact that this wasn’t only review of The Same, and the rest were hugely positive. Fiona Charleton in The Sunday Times called it a "an unforgettable, if unnerving experience.” Helen Meany in The Guardian hailed it as a "riveting, superbly realised production.” And there were more, which Corcadorca shared on social media too, of course.
O’Kelly felt the staging didn’t work, but her complaints about the view from her seat left space for those who preferred to dismiss her review as personally motivated negativity to do so. Critics have to be careful about that.
We need varied voices, we need more reviews, we need space for dissenting opinions, across all art forms.
In 2005, a letter to the editor of The Independent complained that O'Kelly had "shown her lack of professional judgement and training in her review of Crooked House's show Room Rage". The author described her "diatribe" as "the personal, subjective ramblings of an amateur." The word professional was used four times in the first three paragraphs. The argument was that because O'Kelly did not find the work "powerful" as other critics did, she was incompetent.
And yet, theatre companies never question a critic's professionality when the review is good. In a Facebook post on 14 December 2014, Theatre Upstairs wrote "STUNNING REVIEW from Emer O'Kelly for PETALS... what a lovely way to wake up on Sunday morning!!” The Abbey happily tweeted her review of By The Bog of Cats as "A mesmerising triumph", on 24 August 2015. No calls of incompetence there.
O'Kelly is a seasoned reviewer. We need varied voices, we need more reviews, we need space for dissenting opinions, across all art forms. We need professional investment in cultural criticism in Ireland, because audience and artist both benefit from a healthy critical environment. This is one way to know when something is really good, it’s one way to decide what to go and see. It is also how we, as a nation, can collectively think about and analyse our artistic output, in a public forum. There will always be matters of taste involved, but sometimes disagreeing with the critic you’re reading might just be your cue to buy a ticket. Corcadorca’s Facebook post of O’Kelly’s review got ten thumbs up and one shock-horror face. One commenter wrote underneath, "This makes me want to see it more *cry-laugh emoji x 3*”.
Banter: Everyone's a Critic, presented by Jim Carroll, with Cristín Leach (art critic, Sunday Times Ireland), Ian Maleney (writer and critic for The Wire, The Quietus, The Irish Times and Fallow Media), Graham McLaren (Director of the Abbey Theatre) and Nadine O’Regan (arts editor, The Sunday Business Post) - Easter Monday, April 17 at Dublin Castle, as part of the Cruinniú na Cásca programme. Go here for tickets.
