Curtains Up Winnipeg

As mentioned before, I can no longer review local theatre. However, I want to maintain the momentum of the blog by recruiting new writers. That way Curtains Up and continue to cover local theatre and I can continue to build a culture of critique based on conversation and engagement with the art form.

This is the first of what is bound to be one of many posts looking for new writers. It’s kind of a preliminary putting my flag out there to see how people react.

In terms of writers, I’m looking for the following qualities:

• Loves theatre utterly and completely (non-negotiable)
• Articulate, able to be precise about what they observe
• Deeply respectful of people and their craft no matter what they think of the show
• A good communicator who stays in regular contact to get the job done
• Open to constructive feedback
• Reliable, able to hand in reviews on a reasonable time line

Ideally I’d like to build a team of up to ten people who I could call on to fulfill assignments and make sure that the theatre season gets covered. I will make myself available to mentor said team, answer questions and hook them up with resources as needed.

What do you get from reviewing with Curtains Up? Well, theatre tickets which you pay for with writing instead of cash. You get experience developing your writing skills with someone who has worked professionally as a writing teacher. Finally, you will learn a ton about art criticism which applies to any number of other fields.

I am working on putting together critique camps in both English and French. The idea is that you come to a 1.5 hour session where you learn about how to write criticism. We begin by discussing the elements of theatre. From there you get to see a 10-15 minute scene performed by actors (improvised or otherwise), followed by a facilitated group discussion about how to talk about performance. This is followed by a brief talk by a theatre professional about the role of criticism in the theatre ecosystem.

From there, people are invited to see a play (possibly at a reduced price) and submit a written review for consideration. Based on this initial performance, writers may be asked to join the roster for Curtains Up and review throughout the year.

If you are interested in participating in any of the following capacities, please email me at curtainsupwpg@gmail.com

• Potential theatre critic – interested in Critique Camp
• Performer – interested in performing for Critique Camp
• Venue – interested in offering a free space to hold Critique Camp
• Theatre professional – interested in presenting on the role of criticism