Hi there :) 

Thank you for your interest in a review! How exciting. 

I think before we get started on anything, I want to lay out some principles and expectations when it comes to what we will (hopefully) be embarking on together. Below you can find some information about my personal methodology (ie. approach) for when it comes to writing reviews. Review culture in an indie scene, especially as an indie artist, can feel tricky - but I don't think it has to be! I hope the following is as easy to digest as possible, but if you have any questions, please do get in touch. These ground rules have been inspired and made possible by some wonderful conversations with Ryan Hamilton whose work you can check out via the website linked previously and/or on socials. They were incredibly helpful and generous in assiting me to articulate my approach and general thoughts about operating as both an artist and a critic.

So, here goes.

1. Wait, but like, who even are you? Such a great question. A good place to start is probably my own website? I am an artist, so I know what it's like to have someone come and review your work!
   
   

2. I am trying not to call what I do reviewing in any explicit means. I'll probably refer to what I do as a review usually anyway purely for ease of language, but, I don't want what I do to have any major evaluative quality (eg. was this good or bad? how many stars is this show worth?). Rather, I want to document, archive and reflect on the work through my lens (and only mine, because I am only me and all of my biases, tastes etc). I want to think about the shows contribution to the landscape of work, the craft of theatre and to the audience watching it. What is this doing? Why is it doing this? Do I think it met expectations and communicated its intentions effectively? What is the world this work sits in, how and why? That kind of thing. Think of these kinds of reflections as dramaturgy that happens AFTER the play. I want to move away from low-effort criticism that rehashes media releases and just becomes draft two of your marketing copy. I understand why that all exists, but we all deserve, and most importantly, you deserve, much better.
   
   

3. I won't publish something about everything I see. I want this to be a generative and largely positive thing. Sometimes, I won't like something and it's not worth the time or psychic damage for me to publish it. If you want to chat privately about why I haven't published something, please do get in touch.
   
   

4. This is a print endeavour, therefore, whatever I publish will not be immediate. I hate social media and I don't like how it incentivises certain kinds of content and ways of discourse. Personally, I'm trying to move away from the expectation of having social media to access information. I also like the idea of people reading this publication in the places the publication is about. It makes it feel alive for me. Being offline also means I don't have to be immediate or subject to any algoritims / attention economy playbook. This also means your review won't be out in a timely fashion (ie. the next day). Rome (your show) wasn't built in a day, and neither should the response to it. I will try and be reasonably efficient, but it's probably best to assume you may not be able to use this review for publicity as soon as you are used to. I want to give you some proper reflection!!!! Also, I am only me and therefore I am human and things happen. You can trust me to do my best.
   
   

5. I won't or can't always say yes. This can be for a heap of reasons (time, availability, legitimate conflicts of interest (though I will do my best to manage anything), celestial alignments, whatever). I want to say yes to everything, but as this is all volunteer and unpaid, I can only do what I can do.

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Thanks for sticking with me through all that. I just think it's important to get everything out on the table.

So, if you still wanna send me a signal, yay! Find my email below and I'll see you at the theatre :)

email: sophie@sophieminissale.com