About This Blog

About This Blog

So, after two years spent sacrificing my degree to the relentless pull of OUDS, I have had to throw in the towel. Left with little time for being onstage myself, but also a persevering love for Fringe/Student Theatre (and yes, OUDS itself, despite its flaws), there was only one sensible option: People need to hear my totally unqualified opinions.

A Few Things to Get Out of the Way:

1. Nothing in the reviews is intended to be mean-spirited, cruel or disheartening. Since it would ultimately invalidate any praise I give to a production if I wrote entirely positively about everything, I will endeavour to give criticism that is honest and specific, without too much sugar-coating. Of course, Student Theatre is really for fun, and that's what everyone taking part in OUDS should be aiming for, but I will have to be honest about what I did/didn't like, lest we fall into the temptation of simply summarising plots/praising everything indiscriminately. 

2. All opinions are that of a totally unqualified Theology student and thus should not be taken too seriously! I know perhaps as well as anyone can what it's like to read Student/Fringe reviews about oneself, and I've had plenty of negative/disgruntling ones (I am reminded of a particularly sad pint after a night of 'Tis Pity She's a Whore in late 2024 when a Cherwell reviewer had completely neglected to mention me - "The bastard could at least tell me what he didn't like!"). Ultimately, it's crucial to remember that the people reviewing you: 
(1) often don't represent the wider audience experience
(2) are not professional/qualified critics (and, in my case, don't even have degrees in drama or the like)
That all being said - take everything with a grain of salt, and please don't feel disheartened if I criticise your performance/your show - What do I know!?

3. Posts may not always follow conventional review "rules". Expect some anecdotes, references to previous shows, very subjective thoughts, and reviews of greatly varying length (sometimes, I have a lot to say after seeing a show, but at others I may not have the time/inspiration - this doesn't reflect how much I liked it or not!). 

4. Although I understand its significant problems, I will be giving numerical ratings for each show, because it helps me to understand, keep track of, and express how much I enjoyed different productions relative to each other. Otherwise, everything can devolve slightly into "Good" or "Not so Good." I will be expressing this as a number out of 10 (e.g. 5/10) rather than through the traditional star method (e.g. 2.5 Stars) - maybe it's Letterboxd, but star ratings have been gradually losing meaning in my mind.

5. If I get names/pronouns wrong in any of the reviews when referring to performers/crew, or if I have clearly got something important factually wrong, please let me know! I am liable to make mistakes, particularly as the Oxford terms render me increasingly sleep-deprived.

Finally, you can find a little bit about me and my experience in OUDS here: Casting Callback in case anyone is interested.

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