aaaaaaaargh!!
Okay. For the record, do not tell me how to do my job. Ever. Unless you are my boss and have a valid reason to tell me how to do my job.
I freelance as a theatre critic. I also happen to have a sister who works as an actress. Normally this is no problem. I respect what she does, she respects what I do, she's been in the business long enough now that we can begin to have intelligent conversations about drama, things like that.
I also happen to review productions put on at the summer theatre festival where she works.
And although it should go without saying, I will say that though I'm not a mean critic, I am an honest one. I'm no John Simon, looking to insult anyone I can in a review, but I also have high standards, and I'm not going to blow smoke up people's asses and tell them that a show is phenomenal when really it was only a pretty good production. That's called compromising my integrity. Anyone with half a brain who saw the show and then read my review is going to expect an honest evaluation, not a bunch of unprofessional gushing over a B to B- play.
So really, when the time comes for me to review a B to B- play that happens to be running at the theatre my sister works for (even though, mind you, she wasn't in it. At all.), do NOT tell me that I have to make sure my review is really positive, or that if I can't give the play a rave I shouldn't write a review at all, because we don't want MY review to reflect poorly on my sister or hurt her chances at casting in the future. Just don't. I have a job to do, too, and I'm not going to look like an ass when I do it.
(And by the way, none of this came from my sister, who really doesn't care what I write in my reviews.)
I freelance as a theatre critic. I also happen to have a sister who works as an actress. Normally this is no problem. I respect what she does, she respects what I do, she's been in the business long enough now that we can begin to have intelligent conversations about drama, things like that.
I also happen to review productions put on at the summer theatre festival where she works.
And although it should go without saying, I will say that though I'm not a mean critic, I am an honest one. I'm no John Simon, looking to insult anyone I can in a review, but I also have high standards, and I'm not going to blow smoke up people's asses and tell them that a show is phenomenal when really it was only a pretty good production. That's called compromising my integrity. Anyone with half a brain who saw the show and then read my review is going to expect an honest evaluation, not a bunch of unprofessional gushing over a B to B- play.
So really, when the time comes for me to review a B to B- play that happens to be running at the theatre my sister works for (even though, mind you, she wasn't in it. At all.), do NOT tell me that I have to make sure my review is really positive, or that if I can't give the play a rave I shouldn't write a review at all, because we don't want MY review to reflect poorly on my sister or hurt her chances at casting in the future. Just don't. I have a job to do, too, and I'm not going to look like an ass when I do it.
(And by the way, none of this came from my sister, who really doesn't care what I write in my reviews.)