Today, Norm Goldman Publisher & Editor of Bookpleasures.com is excited to have as our guest Lynn Slotkin Publisher of the monthly theatre newsletter, The Slotkin Letter. The newsletter chronicles her theatre going in Toronto, New York, London and elsewhere and is used as a resource for actors, directors, artistic directors and others who are interested in theatre.

Lynn has also contributed her reviews to Toronto’s Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, Performance Magazine, American Theatre Magazine, Eye Weekly, How Theatre Educates, Orbit Mystery Scene Magazine, The Canadian Jewish News, the London Free Press and The Hollywood Reporter. She has also done theatre commentary for Studio Two on TV Ontario and CBC TV-Newsworld.

Good day Lynn and thanks for participating in our interview. 

Norm:

How did you get started as a theatre critic and what keeps you going? As a follow up, how many theatre performances do you attend per week? 

Lynn:

My mother took me to the theatre when I was 12 to see the musical Oliver at the O’Keefe Centre. That was the beginning of my love affair with the theatre. I was mesmerized by that experience. I went to York University in Toronto to study History, Theory and Criticism of Theatre.  

I didn’t want to act, direct, write plays or design. I wanted to pass on my enthusiasm for theatre. Theatre criticism was the way. I wrote reviews for the University newspaper, Excalibur. The year before I graduated, my criticism professor suggested that I send samples of my University reviews to the Canadian Jewish News. My first professional reviews were published there.

What keeps me going? The pure love of theatre. The thought that if I don’t see as much as I can, I might miss something wonderful.  

Sometimes at heavy times of the year I can see a show a night for two or more weeks. It’s more accurate to say that I see on average 250 performances per year. I travel to Ottawa, Montreal, New York, Winnipeg, and Chicago etc. to see theatre on the weekends. I go on vacation to London England to see theatre.

Norm: 

Do you do any research before attending a play?

Lynn: 

I will read all the press information that is sent including the press release. I find often the press release tells me what they want me to think the play is about. I prefer to look at the play and see if it does conform to the press release. I sometimes read the play if it’s familiar, just to refresh my memory. I try to read new plays, but often I just let the play speak through the production.

I try and familiarize myself with the previous work of the playwright, director etc.  

Norm:

How do you decide how you wish to attend a particular play?  

Lynn:

If I’m invited, and it’s a professional (Equity) production, then I go. I try to cram in as much as I can in a limited amount of time. If I’m travelling to see theatre many things can help me decide: the play, the playwright, the director, designers, actors in it, sometimes even the theatre it’s playing in.  

Norm:

What do you feel is your responsibility as a critic? Are you there to tell people to go and not to go? 

Lynn:

My responsibility is to tell the truth about a play and the production so that people can decide if they want to spend the time and money to see the production.  

I tell a bit of the story to hook the reader/listener (when I do my weekly CBC Radio One reviews in Toronto). I try to tell how this play fits into the progress of the playwright. I give an analysis of the play (does it work? Or not?), does the production work? Does it serve the play? Are the components of the production working in sync?  Does the director serve the play or him/herself?

A theatre critic’s responsibility is to inform, educate and entertain the reader/listener. You want them to read/listen to you again. You want to guide their theatre-going, so yes, entertain.  

Norm:

What's the most difficult thing for you about being a critic? As a follow up, is it easier to write about a play you enjoyed as opposed to one you hated?

Lynn:

The most difficult thing about being a critic is seeing all the worthy shows you can to give them their due attention. The next hardest thing is not to be discouraged when I see several bad shows in a row. For that I just take off a day or two to recharge and start again. 

It’s easier to write a pan than it is to write a rave. With a pan you can point out the components of a play and a production that didn’t work and why. With a rave it all works so it’s like dissecting the components of perfect chocolate mousse. It’s hard to write a rave and not make it sound like a gush.

Norm: 

Do you ever feel that something you many have written will be taken out of context?

Lynn: 

Always. People either read so fast they miss the point. Or they listen distracted that they don’t hear exactly what I say. Or they are told by someone else what I said and they get it wrong and it just perpetuates itself. I can just be as clear as I can and hope that the reader/listener will get it. And if they don’t, that’s not my problem.

Norm: 

How do you deal with critiquing a play where there are elements that are so archaic or foreign that you don’t immediately understand them?

Lynn: 

If I don’t get some elements of a production say so. I say that some archaic or foreign aspect escapes me and I don’t get the point. I think listeners/readers find that honesty refreshing. I won’t bluff and bluster. I come clean and say I didn’t get it.

Norm: 

Do you believe that directors should give actors some room for their own creativity and if so can you name a few directors and/or plays where this has taken place?

Lynn: 

Sure I believe that directors should let the actors act and use their creativity. Often that does happen. Often it doesn’t. Some who give the actor room are: Martha Henry (“Elizabeth Rex” at Stratford), Diana Leblanc (“Long Day’s Journey into Night” at Stratford), Doug Hughes (“Doubt” on Broadway), Jack O’Brien (“Coast of Utopia” and “Henry IV” in New York), Bill Alexander (“Richard III” in London), Marianne Elliott (“Therese Raquin” in London).

These directors guide actors to give great performances.  

Norm:

Which playwrights excite you and why?  As a follow up, would you like to see anything in particular in the theatre that we don’t see today? 

Lynn:

I love the plays of Ann-Marie MacDonald. Her wit and intelligence are rapier sharp. She explores interesting questions (art and science in the same world) and her writing style keeps us on our toes.  

Jason Sherman, another Canadian playwright, writes about politics, often of Jewish families, the arts and he does it as well with a humour that is almost over the top. It’s a shame he seems to have given up the theatre.

In New York, I like the plays of Wendy Wasserstein because she wrote about women, their struggles, their politics, and she did it with the gentlest of humour. It’s a terrible loss that she died so young.  

I always find deep truths about life and wounded souls in the works of Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller.

In London I will see any play David Hare writes. He writes from a deep passion about the world, about the judiciary, the military, political bungling, and relationships.  

Michael Frayn has an intellect and a writing ability that makes the world of Physics, German politics and other deep subjects accessible. And he can also write a killingly funny farce in Noises Off.

For shear storytelling I love the works of Martin McDonagh and Conor McPherson. 

I would like to see better plays and more people who know how to help a playwright shape and clarify their plays.

Norm: 

What, in your opinion, are the most important elements of a good theatre critic? As a follow up, what tools do you feel are must-haves for theatre critics?

Lynn: 

The theatre critic must love the theatre. He/she must be fair and have no agenda when reviewing. He/she should get a good education and grounding in the history and theory of the theatre. He/she must be aware of world theatre, trends in the theatre. He/she must have a good critical eye and a clear way of expressing their analysis and opinions. A sense of humour and a sense of seriousness is vital. And he/she must have a wealth of theatregoing for background.

Tools? An education. A critical eye. Good communication skills. An ability to write.  An open mind. 

Norm:

What does it take to make a play work? How do you know what went wrong and how do you separate the writing from the directing and acting? 

Lynn:

I always start with the play. If it’s a good story, relevant, accessible, makes sense, that’s a huge plus. To make it all work, the elements have to mesh—the direction, performances, set, costumes, lights, sound etc. They all should serve the play to realize the author’s intentions. A strong director is vital. 

You can tell what went wrong when the play is not served; when a director calls attention to himself/herself and doesn’t serve the play; when actors upstage or pull focus and call attention to themselves; when the set or other creative aspects do not go with the time period or style of the play. All that is trouble.

If the action follows the words then the performance and the writing are in sync. When the words dictate a certain action and that isn’t followed then the writing isn’t served. Knowing what is the director’s contribution and what is the actor’s is tricky.  

Ninety percent of the creativity in a performance is the actor’s usually, and 10% is the director. With experience of seeing the actor’s work and the director’s work one can tell the difference. For example, at the Stratford Festival in Ontario, Ben Carlson is playing Hamlet. This young actor is brilliant. Truly. He conveys all the aspects and colours of that character and he has done that kind of clear work for every play I’ve seen him in. The director here, Adrian Noble, has directed a fussy, cluttered production. I do not credit Mr. Noble with Mr. Carlson’s performance. I do blame him for the messy production. I’ve seen the work of both men and I can tell who to praise and who to blame. 

Norm: 

Do you read the other critics pertaining to a play you may have critiqued?

Lynn: 

If I’m writing my Slotkin Letter there is usually a long lag so I have no problem reading other reviews. I’ve already formed my opinion and I stick to that. If it’s a radio review and more immediate I don’t read any reviews because then it’s tempting to review the reviewer and not the play. I will read the reviews only after my radio review has aired.

Norm: 

When you attend a play, how do you take notes and what do you look for from the actors and the directors?

Lynn: 

I always jot notes in the dark in pen on my program. I can rarely make out what I have written! But I’m lucky in that what sticks in my mind is what I noted and I can remember what stuck.

What I look for from actors is a true performance that is true to the character. What I look for from directors is the same thing, only the director should serve the whole production which in turn serves the play, and realizes the author’s intention. 

Norm:

Do you ever feel that you wished you could go back and modify or change a critique?

Lynn: 

No. I take a long time to think about what I’m planning for my Slotkin Letter so I’ve looked at the production etc. from all sides by then and am sure of what I think. With a radio review I have the luxury of forming my opinion overnight. So no, I don’t modify or change what I thought.

Norm: 

Have you considered anthologizing your reviews in book form?

Lynn: 

Years ago I wrote a letter to a literary agent about putting my theatre letters into book form, along with the many answers I got from the actors, directors, etc. who received them. The letters from them were personal and detailed.

They revealed a respect on both sides, from me to them, of course, and from them to me about what I thought. The agent replied with the rudest, most cruel, and condescending letter that stunned me and the people I showed it to.  

The gist was that I had nothing to recommend her attention except that I knew famous people. She offered that perhaps if I became a famous actress or critic in the future then my opinions would matter, at the moment they didn’t.

 I keep that letter with me to remind me how far I’ve come and how cloddish people can be and to prevent me from becoming the latter. My Slotkin Letter has grown in stature. It would be nice to put them in a book form. But I don’t need to. All my subscribers keep them for years anyway. That’s good enough for me.  

Norm:

You are the publisher of The Slotkin Letter what is this all about? 

Lynn:

It’s a monthly news letter that comes out 12 times a year. It covers theatre I’ve seen in Toronto, New York, London, Chicago, Ottawa, Montreal, Los Angeles and environs.  

It covers five shows per issue and there is an Other Stuff section that deals with “Other Stuff” not necessarily related to theatre. It’s for anyone who is serious about theatre. Actors use it as a resource, as do directors, designers etc.

Artistic Directors use it to know what’s playing elsewhere and to plan their seasons. And I also have a good number of ‘civilians’, people not in the theatre but who love it, who subscribe. 

Norm:

Are you working on any books/projects that you would like to share with us? (We would love to hear all about them!) 

Lynn:

All my efforts go into producing the monthly issue of my Slotkin Letter and doing my weekly radio review on CBC.  No books or other projects in the offing. I am going on vacation to London to see about 15 plays and that’s always wonderful to look forward to. And then I come back and write about it.  

Norm:

Is there anything else you wish to add that we have not covered and how can our readers find out more about you? 

Lynn:

This has been pretty thorough. I want people to go to the theatre and be discerning about what they see. I want them to complain properly when they think something is wrong—be it a production or a review. I want them to be better audiences. That will create better theatre. This was fun. Thanks.  

For information on me your readers and my news letter you can go to my WEBSITE 

Thanks once again and good luck with all of your future endeavors. 

My thanks.

The above interview was conducted by: The Publisher & Editor of Bookpleasures.com, Norm Goldman, B.A. LL.L, Retired Title Attorney: Norm is also a travel writer and together with his artist wife, Lily, the couple meld Norm's words with Lily's art. To check out their travel site click on Sketchandtravel.com   Click here to view Norm’s Reviews & Interviews.