do your local papers send critics to amateur shows?

have people found them to be fair / useful?

is it a useful marketing tool?

We've had this discussion lots of times at our theatre! The trouble with our part of London is that our local paper is the South London Press which has a circulation of around a million - not easy to get in to!

There are a couple of freebies which surface, only to fade away again within a few months, and they are usually willing to give us space (although no crit) but it doesn't seem to do us much good in the long run.

We have had two shows reviewed by local paper critics in the last 20. The reviews were both very favourable (which, of course, we thought totally justified) - but unqualified praise is rarely useful.

As for the publicity value, it depends on the number of shows you stage. A good review will only help if you are selling tickets (either for the reviewed show or the next show), otherwise it will be forgotten.

Better publicity comes by feeding newspapers stories before the show goes into production (where a story is more than "we're putting on a show" - next time, I think I shall try "Man bites pantomime horse").

As a small Midlands town we are much better off. If we pay our local paper for an advert they will review us. And their main reviewer (who none of us have met!) is a big fan and is very supportive of us. But it's all fair review though - honest!

I have to agree with Stuart the critical reviews are only worth the scrap book if they're published after the show.

I was part of a show taken to the Edinburgh Fringe, when the Scotsman raved about our production of Anitgone urging people to go..... we closed the night before the article came out (but were lucky to get a review atthe fringe anyway)

No..it's better toconcentrate your rescources on pre show publicity unless you're trying to build a relationship with the paper (it also saves you a comp too)

Radio interviews seem to generate a little interest and of course geting included in a what's on helps too

Agree with Martin about radio interviews. We generally manage to get a radio interview just prior to the show and invariably get ticket sales (even if only a few) from it. We also put up two tickets to the show as a prize.

Last show was great because we were doing Dick Barton Special Agent so Radio Leicester were delighted to be able to play the theme tune!

We were reviewed for a show we did in in 1998. (before my time so don't know how that came about)

Last year, we sent off the pre production blurb and the local paper did a telephone interview. Hasten to add here that it was because we were doing a play that was being done by another group in the same place the week before so it was a chance to get some publicity. Also the reporter wondered why the mix up had happened. It had happened! We only found out the other group were doing same play when we saw their publicity 5 weeks before and it was too late for us to change plays. We only meet once a week you see. Anyway, it turned out to be good publicity and we sold a lot of extra tickets still.

In answer to question, I would send info before the play, as early as possible.
If you check the free listings section it will advise you when to send in your show details. You could also send a photo (a good one) if you can.

Good luck

Louise

Judging from the other responses, we must be very lucky in the Newbury area. All amateur (and professional) productions in the area are reviewed - usually about three a week - in the Newbury Weekly News. There are about half a dozen reviewers (I'm one of them), and all - I think - belong to amdram groups.

We also have a local radio station (Kick FM) which has a weekly 3-minute slot about local theatre (me again).

We have two quite good local papers in our area, one of which supports us well and usually gives us advanced publicity and comes to take a piccy too!! But the other one prints whatever I send in (if we're lucky) but doesn't come anywhere near us!! It professes to be our town's edition but doesn't feature the local amdram group at all (they usually run features about groups from smaller, neighbouring villages, though). I wonder where we're going wrong. I usually email all the local papers the press release a few weeks before the run and ask them to contact me for further info if they need to, and we invite someone to come and review the show, but we have never had anyone take us up on this. Well, not all the while I've been in the group and that's about 16 years!!!!

Sometimes I think all I do is think up things to make my life harder. Straying from the topic slightly, I would really, really like to get reviews of group productions on the site. I also run a paperbased magazine (if you're in East Anglia why don't you subscribe) which includes local reviews so I know how hard it is to get people to write reviews.

I can't write them myself - I don't have the time or money to travel (although any group that can provide me with free tickets and free accommodation) might get a visit.

I would like to link to reviews from the production, group and scripts database which although wouldn't help that production might encourage people to attend or join if the review is favourable.

So over to you guys - what do you think?

We get good reviews from our local paper but for our last show we attempted to guage how much interest in ticket sales we received from the newspaper.

Despite an excellent circulation and a very professional well situated advert (Huge advert (We are good at blagging or should I say I am, I get a lot of things like this for free!!) we managed to attract 4 ticket sales.

We know this because we used a different number to normal, plus we asked each person that called the booking office to let us know where they saw the show advertised.

Funny enough, "Word of Mouth" came up tops!

(Jane, I don't think you would really want to come upto freezing Adlington, I can ask about getting some accommodation sorted out and certainly the tickets but we are way out in the sticks!! (NO BROADBAND EITHER, NO HOTELS WITH PHONE POINTS (Just Kidding))

Years ago the local paper used to send out a reporter to review each amateur show in the area. All they required was two free seats, but unfortunately these reviews could often be very slating, which is in general a bad thing for amateur theatre all round. But they were usually in the paper on the week of the show.

About 8 years ago things changed. We were now required to send 2 best seat tickets, plus travel expenses for the reporter and overtime wages for them from 5.00pm onwards. Consequently, amateur groups stopped inviting them and amateur theatre all but disappeared from the paper.

Later we discovered that if we contributed our own review of the show they would usually get printed, although this would be several weeks later and would carry the bold footnote "Contributed". Unfortunately, although some groups would invite someone to do the review as an outsider, it became an excuse for other groups to write fantastically glowing reviews of their own shows, mentioning every single person by name right down to the lowliest person who came to help on get-in day!

These days it's about half and half of these. The usually get printed 1 to 2 weeks after the show, so aren't any good for publicity but are useful for keeping in the archives or for future publicity.

The best thing is that we tend to do a pile of our own press releases. These are usually released to the local paper on a weekly basis, on different themes of the forthcoming show with a couple of action photos enclosed, and eventually one will usually get printed. We always include box office details and so on in the press release, keep our fingers crossed and hope.

Of course, 10 miles up the road they have 3 local papers in one area who are just dying for anything amdram they can lay their hands on and print everything you send them immediately, crediting your photographers and all sorts. Oh, I wish I lived 10 miles away!!

It's just one of those things really. You gets what you gets and lump it!

But we do try, and local radio works well. We also do the 2 free ticket prize, and it's surprising how many people book after hearing it advertised on the radio - but those early morning mid-week trips to the radio station to be interviewed can be hard.....

We are fortunate to have two very supportive local newpapers in the East London area - both of whom review the shows and print pre publicity for us. However, the review appears the week after the show so does not help ticket sales for that particular show but I'm convinced they do have an effect on people's perception of the Company. We have 12 Amdram groups performing at our theatre throughout the year as well as visiting professional shows and the battle is to get people to come and see your Company, rather than the show you are doing (if you see what I mean) - the review does aid this.

As for prepublicity this is so important and we have learnt a number of lessons:

Always have an angle (even if its very tenuous (sp?))
Make sure your copy/press release is written by someone who has a flair for it - if its dry and bland it will go in the bin
Always, but always, send photos (but make sure they're well thought out and of good quality)
Finally, be procative - come up with ideas and make personal contacts (give the editor some freebies/invite them to social functions etc). When we were doing Edwin Drood we came up with the idea of writing a weekly diary following the trials and tribulations of staging a musical. Each week concentrated on different aspect of production (ie auditions/costumes/orchestra etc) - the Editor loved the idea and we ended up getting at least half a page each week for eight weeks prior to the show, including pictures. There is no doubt this had a massive effect on ticket sales for a little known show.

The bottom line as far as local press is concerned is to be creative (cos most of the time their reporters aren't!!)

Phew, I'm exhausted now.

South London Press (our local paper) doesn't even have a theatre section ....

Not sure what you mean, Jane - do you want to keep reviews on amdram, or just link to reviews on other sites? I've accumulated hundreds of reviews of local productions on the Newbury Theatre web site, mostly copied from the local paper (they haven't served me with a cease and desist notice yet <_< ).

I am not too sure a Reviews section would be of that much value?

(I am just thinking in the time and maintenance factors)

We always invite our local NODA Representative who review the show and the details on their site.

And as Paul says at Newbury they have copies of all the reviews that have been made concerning their shows.

I maybe being awkward but I don't see the value in duplicating data.

Okay,

Firstly I think a reviews section carried out by others in the Am dram community would be a good idea if done properly.

Reviews from NODA in my opinion are worthless - before I get beaten up let me explain. The reviews come out each quarter (I believe) and although each area has the same reviewer they are really inconsistent, short and are hardly useful to gauge you performance on! In case people think I've an axe to grind with NODA, I don't in fact I've won awards for 2 consecutive years, but that still doesn?t' make their reviews any good.

Newspaper reviews are better, however quiet often they're written by the group themselves (hardly productive) or by a hack that has never been to the theatre. As said in another thread ? they may be good for the scrap book and for back patting - but aren?t a useful tool

I propose that we carry out reviews where possible for each other - but use a general yardstick as a measurement tool . We need to consider all aspects of the production, both artistic and technical. We also need to be constructive - it really isn't any good praising every member on stage. To be a useful tool a review needs to provide pointers to areas that may be improved. The review should be on a "Praise, Critic, praise format) and be fair.

Groups should not be judged against one another when available resources maybe greatly different. These reviews should be used as a tool to assist groups to improve their productions and to provide guidance and assistance to those wishing to perform this production. It might be a nice idea if the group being reviewed could also write a postscript of their production highlighting problem areas, good contact for sets etc to assist others in the future.

Well that?s my thoughts on the matter anyway

I agree with Martin as regard NODA Reviews. Sometimes they are quite worthless. I think NODA is a good thing but I do feel sometimes the people reviewing are bored and it refelects in their crits...

"When I did {insert musical here} back in blah blah blah"

"I see the are still using the phone which we used in blah blah blah"

Are some of the comments I've seen.

I had a review once, where I was the lead, and it was one sentence. Flattering as it was, I felt I wasn't pushed enough... I want to know the bad things so I can improve.. (and there's a LOT of bad things)...

I feel they seem to take things as face value, and don't look at the work put into it. Perhaps we do need more reviewers other than NODA and the papers.

People from other companies/groups to come in BEFORE the production and look at the show with fresh eyes. The trouble with this is that "Directors" may get upset that their "baby" isn't theirs anymore... Pity.. We are here to learn but also we are here to enjoy our hobby. Anything we can do to get better and give a better performance to the paying public should over ride anyone "ego".

Group hug!!!!

Once the press has reviewed a show, what are your views on replicating the review on your website?

Jane if it's just you on your own then I'm wondering how the heck you're finding time for a life - look me in the eye and tell me your family's first names. No peeking at notes now....

Maybe we have one of those scripts that you get via email occasionally. You know type in answers to 20 questions and it fills in a story. It'd be similar to a NODA review but a whole lot funnier

Actually, much as I like NODA, and always invite them to my first nights (hey, I don't give away freebies for last nights - I am, after all, me!) I do know of at least one group who has packed up their NODA membership due to a completely horrible scathing review (and in my opinion quite unjustified). It's a bit like bad newspaper reviews - in amateur theatre what you need is constructive criticism and encouragement, with praise where it's due. I mean, how about "although the acting left a little to be desired, the costumes by xxxxx were wonderful" or similar.

I do quite like the excited nervousness, though, when a NODA area review book is about to come out and I've directed a show during the period.

I agree about the NODA reviews. We feel quite despondant sometimes with ours. Our rep came to our panto on the matinee performance (which was the worst!) and commented on the lack of response from the audience. We are a very small group and that seems to be all he wants to talk about, there is never a review without him mentioning our small number and how much he pities us as we have to work backstage as well as on stage! We don't find this constructive, we know we are a small group, but we all enjoy what we do and hope that it doesn't show that we are all overworked and exhausted (obviously it does show to him!!) But as the NODA review is the only one we get, we still keep inviting him. But I wonder how useful it is to have a review of a panto written by someone who hates panto.

Why is it that all NODA reviewers (that I've met) are set in there ways and are not receptive to new theatre and ideas?

In their defence however, I have found them very receptive to free drinks and over night hospitality...... or is that just me being cynical

I can write my next review on there behalf "It isn't G&S so I'm going to slate it" (Not that I have anything against G&S societies)

Of course someone from NODA could always come here and chat - yeah right!!

Mainly it's because so many of them are retired people as they're the only ones who have time to go to so many shows. Quite often they're not as open-minded as they could be. But hey, there you go - that's life. It's not always fair.

I dont really have much faith in our local press although they are more responsive if we send them the pics and details etc after the event. In the past we've invited them to presentations which they said they would send a photographer but rarely turn up. We've come to understand that its a staff issue and those few staff also cover all aspects of local news, so it a matter of how busy they are.
Last year we raised money for a special care baby unit and this generated quite a bit of interest with the press so I guess it can depend on the cirmcumstances. (The press release stated that I was the one with the baby in the unit and since I dont have any kids, my mum was on the phone straight away! )
Going back to what Jane mentioned, I usually check out the current productions to see whats on locally. How about an addition to the Production database submitting form where the group could say they would welcome a review to be published on Amdram? (sorry Jane, but you mentioned it ). This could be done when submitting their production details and might encourage other groups to go and see each other, therefore upping ticket sales and hopefully spreading the word (if the show is good of course). I would be nice for local groups to support each other and maybe give a better feel of community. We had a chap come to see our last show (not actually met him, an internal work email contact) and we're off to see him in his panto next week. You see, its working already.
Just a thought.....

Hi Janice

This would be a simple thing to set up, but I think the production database might not be the place as I would assume that most groups would be happy for a review to be done. The difficulty is going to be getting the reviewers in the first place. Ummm perhaps this needs a different thread - let me think about it.

Jane

I'll volunteer to review Saucy Jack and the Space Vixens...!!!!!

*evil grin*..

I'll be good! Honest!!!

I actually get to see a LOT of shows (average 1 a week) do to my photography, which is just an excuse to get into see a show for free *wink*...

Unless you got a good contact with a newspaper, then reviewing it can cost bums of seats if it's reviewed by the "new boy" with no experience. See that happen before.

Best get the papers to do the photographs and write a bit up for them yourselves (if they allow you to)... Otherwise, get the reporter round for an evening, and give them a few free drinks...

It's also good to introduce them to the actors, and NOT as some groups I've seen do, which is the Director "smother" the reporter with their "ego trip" of how wonderful they are...

Make them feel as one of the group and they might write a bit more than expected.

Having "facts" about the musical and some pre-written notes about the company to give the reports is a must, the less they have to do the better. You can also save time by getting photographs done already before they arrive.

Major sucking up is required but do it tactfully... *wink*