London’s rich theatrical mix…. and the critical cull continues Stateside….

Now, of course, it has been recently eclipsed on the roundabout by the sudden arrival of the Strata Tower that you seem to be able to see from all over London now. It is topped by three huge wind turbines that will apparently generate sufficient electricity to light the entire building.

But back in the shopping centre itself, I was thrilled a couple of summers ago when the Royal Court took over a disused shop on the upper level to re-stage its Theatre Upstairs production of Oxford Street in - though if it was being genuinely site-specific, of course, it should have found an empty shop on Oxford Street itself. Never mind; seeing the play again there, as I did, it nevertheless generated a charge of authenticity that was inevitably missing in a real theatre building.

And last night the Royal Court returned to the Elephant and Castle to officially launch its Theatre Local project, which I previously wrote about here. The idea, as I quoted the Court’s artistic director Dominic Cooke saying then, is to take its plays “to the heart of a community that may not otherwise get the chance to see our work”. As I said in turn, “It’s not, of course, so much that they can’t see the work as that they don’t: Elephant, is after all, also in Zone 1 and just a short tube ride from Sloane Square. But then the Royal Court no doubt has potential audiences in the far reaches of the King’s Road that don’t get to Sloane Square, either.”

So if the community won’t come to the theatre, the theatre goes instead to the community. And although last night’s press performance may not have been entirely representative sampling of the sort of community that they’ll hopefully be attracting, it’s clear that there’s a desire to make it less intimidating. The seating is on a range of comfy sofas, plus an assortment of other plastic and wooden chairs to create an aura of impromptu informality. Mind you, a different sort of intimidation is instilled at the door instead - there seems to be a stop-and-search policy on entering the room. (The ushers in Sloane Square only make a half-hearted effort to look into your bag; the guy at the door last night looked like he was being much more thorough).

And on Sunday evening, I also paid my first visit to another venue I am surprised to say I’d never even heard of before, let alone visited. Rich Mix, whose website bills it as “an up-and-coming cross-arts centre located in the vibrant area of Shoreditch/East London”, managed to make me cross the moment I entered its doors: chaos appeared to reign at its box office, staffed by a single man, who then couldn’t locate the tickets that had been arranged for me to see the professional theatrical premiere of Philip Ridley’s Moonfleece there.

The box office is a key focal point of any venue, and it needs to operate efficiently to create the right initial impression. Rich Mix failed at this elementary hurdle. But it’s difficult to work out just what and who the place is there to serve: its primary arts offering seems to be a mini-movie multiplex, with three screens offering mainly blockbusters and occasional art house entries. Meanwhile, the very basically equipped theatre - located four flights up, and accessible only by a single lift - seems to be only intermittently programmed, hence the fact that I’d never heard of it before.

Mainly, the place - once a garment factory - otherwise provides a home to various “educative charities and creative businesses”. That’s a behind-the-scenes function, like the Toynbee Studios at nearby Aldgate, that isn’t necessarily meant to have a public face, but could (depending on what those creative businesses actually are), feed into the public culture.

I have to wonder, though, if this is a vanity project by a local council intent on being seen to promote its arts interests, or one that will make a real difference to the community it serves. And if it can’t get the box office right, it also failed at the next hurdle, too: the over-priced, under-heated cafe lattes in the cafe made me want to flee to the nearest Starbucks.

THE CRITICAL CULL CONTINUES STATESIDE….
I’ve highlighted often before the brain drain of critics Stateside - as I wrote here the January before last, “New York has also lately seen the elimination of the role of theatre critics on a number of leading publications - as Michael Riedel reported at the beginning of December in the New York Post, ‘Being a member of the New York Drama Critics’ Circle these days is like being in a revival of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None.’” He was reporting the latest layoff there of Journal News critic Jacques le Sourd, who had served as critic for 35 years, and who observed wryly to Riedel, “My next assignment was on the Depression hits Broadway. I don’t have to do that story now. I’m living it.”

He was just the latest in a series of critics to see their jobs go in the preceding months: others in the exodus, by force or natural causes, included (according to a story in Variety), “Michael Sommers, who took a buyout at the New Jersey Star-Ledger; Eric Grode, who lost his gig at the New York Sun when that paper folded; Jeremy McCarter, who ankled New York magazine to become a cultural critic at Newsweek; and Clive Barnes, a major figure in performing-arts journalism who died after 30 years as theater and dance critic at the New York Post.’ As Variety went on to comment, ‘When the dust cleared, the New York Drama Critics Circle, the group of journos that hands out stage kudos every spring, had suddenly been reduced to 18 from 22. (While losing that quintet, they added one Village Voice scribe.)’ Linda Winer, critic of Newsday, quipped, ‘Pretty soon we’re going to be an alumni organization’.”

That’s just become even more true now. In arguably the most significant layoffs yet, Variety itself has just laid off its chief theatre critic, the estimable David Rooney, as well as its fine chief film critic Todd McCarthy, alongside six other staffers. According to an online report of the New York Times, Variety’s president Neil Stiles said the critics were cut as a cost-saving measure. He is quoted saying, “It’s economic reality”, but promises that the paper would carry the same number of reviews, but expected them all to be done on a freelance basis. Mind you, one has to wonder who is left to read them. Variety has recently put itself behind a paywall, so you can only access two stories a month for free unless you subscribe.