Sunday, April 22, 2007

Mouawad's "Scorched" -- about my review of the play

I have been amazed by the number of hits on my review of NAC's production of Scorched, Linda Gaboriau's brilliant translation of Quebec playwright Wadji Mouawad's stunning play Incendies. Granted, it is my first positive review in a while; but let's face it: this has been a bleak theatrical season, generally, with NAC's new Artistic Director Peter Hinton and GCTC's new AD, Lise Ann Johnson both retreating to seasons mainly consisting of short plays. Just a few minutes ago, I checked with statcounter.com, one of my hits analysis services, and discovered that every hit today started with a direct Google for or email link to Scorched. The review is so popular, that when one Googles "Scorched Mouawad" or any variation of the title and his name today, my review is at the top of Google's list. That is astounding to me.
What is also very interesting is that in the past, long before I the advent of the Internet, when I saw a play about which I had an opinion, my recourse was to talk to friends about it. Eventually, I became tired of having such a limited audience, and started reviewing plays in an email newsletter for Vagabond Theatre, our local community theatre club. When I started wordcurrents, it occurred to me that this was a place for my theatre reviews. I soon realized that the cast and crew were Googling my reviews.
Now think about that for a moment. It means that I have a pipeline directly to the people on stage or backstage, including the playwright, the director, artistic director -- that's a great aspect of the Internet: it gives us direct links to people responsible.
So if somebody does something that I react to, I am not limited to showing my response by my hand clapping at the curtain call: I can say it in a review, fairly certain that it will go directly to the people involved and others who saw it with me or will decide whether or not to see it based partly on my review.
Let's hear it for technology!

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