Clinton News-Record, 1976-12-09, Page 18ege4 of
1rt 'have bow received
the Playhouse from
+achetrs dents, =anthers
ed'' support and: from
eoPle the have simply
o d Playhouse
lre;,ducti inpastseasouns,
Cu November 12,
que mrd Chairman
I sant Cochrane* Q C., and
o of the Playhouse Trustees
Met. With Mr. William Heine,
Free Press Editor, for a
thorough review of the
situation. Public reaction
continued to mount.
Recently, Doug Bale, invited
Managing . Director James
Murphy for a meeting which
-Playhouse officials.. - hoped
would clear the air.
When Mr. Bale's second
article appeared November
20, Mr. Murphy felt it was a
gross misrepresentation and
distortion of Playhouse ar-
tistic policy, and in many
ways. more damaging than
the original article. Mr.
Murphy has responded in the
following manner.
The_really disturbing thing
about. Doug, Bale's vicious
attack upon the Playhouse in
the Free -Press on October 27,
1976 (the nature of which I
believe . is unprecedented in
Canadianhistory) is that it
has little, if anything, to do
with dramatic criticism. But
it has a lot to do with using
your position In" the'p ; ess to
advance other's cause while
condemning ours.
Doug Bale's article was not
so much to keep the general
public from our doors
(particularly as our theatre is
closed) as it was an attempt
to upset our relations with
granting agencies. Besides,
as Mr. Bale infers, what do
the public know? They only
M, .f.!a r .i+ex-
pr+es:" tough the Ontario
Kd supp of our
Proms.
I don'art's, ,subsidy
dollars have ever been
stretched further than ours.
Our programs include five
full summer seasons for
Grand Bend, two full seasons
for Kincardine, one full
season shared between Owen
Sound and Meaeor(' and one
full season to Owen Sound,
Meaford, Fergus and
Hanover,as well as three
annual school tours.
As I told Doug Bale, I don't
think it is generally realized
the amount of
professionalism this activity
requires. It is all very well to
sit in an ivory tower and
demand excellence. The truth
is we've never had the dollars
to put on stage that which will
satisfy Mr. Bale's 'passion for
polish!' Probably we won't
ever have the dollars to do
that. Besides. were a simple
and unpretentious theatre.
There exists an erroneous
idea that to be a good critic
one has to be "tough" - the
tougher he is, the better he
does his job, the, more he is
like a really big city critic.
But take it from one who
has been reviewed by New
York's critics - this silly
notion can create, in an area
such as ours, no more than a
misguided missile. The truth
is the critic is only as good as
hisbackground,
qualifications, and insight
allow him to be. In fact, this
so-called "toughness" is
frequently a kind of cover-up
for want of proper
qualifications.
But some people in the role
of critic are there without
qualifications. Some get
assigned there from sports,
basic homework 0*
the !
the Phi
y,
the author and-- sts per-
ining a positive
stepi'or. .nother l itive std.
would; be the reviewer
would See the entire show
before metingbis reV1017.
Since one of the haste tenants.
of criticism is to "judge; the
whole and not the parts", that
basic, tenant doesn't have a
chance with an -early
deadline. Is critical honesty
-
less important than meeting a
deadline? '
Remarks such as "Oh well,
he's just a drama critic", and
"If he says it's bad, we go to
see it" indicate that the
general public and some
newspapers as well, are
apathetic as hell about
standards of journalism.
The five year struggles of
the Playhouse . are now
compounded by a reckless
and irresponsible review. The
review is not so much about
the Playhouse really, and
certainly not about the recent
children's production twhich
seemed only a convenient
ploy), but rather of the
Playhouse philosophy.
To be sure a friendly
rivalry has always existed
between theatre companies
Cpl of ane theatr
company Xu the Itopes, t
building a bright finer
tomorrow. ruble
re!prespe!eslbil
is why l s uld eain
their. reg
l
uctiOn
Reviews tads peop et
whether tc spend tib
time atm° money to- see n
certain- production are fine.
The a vocation of over-
throwing one company in
favour of another should he
ruled to be beyond the
jurisdiction of a critic of the
arts.
Fames Murphy
director,
Huron Country Playhouse.
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