How Did You Become a Critic?

Today is the start of Toronto’s Fringe Theatre Festival.  I love the Fringe Fests we have across the country -they’re full of dynamic, eclectic, creative performances and you never know what you’re going to get.  The Toronto fest has 145 shows and I have so many friends performing this year, I don’t know how I’m going to see them all.  If I’m having that much trouble, can you imagine what it must be like for the reviewers?  And on that note, how does one become a reviewer in the first place?

Well, that’s exactly what I asked 5 of the country’s top critics.  The answers are all quite amazing.

So who did I start with?  Naturally, with the most revered and reviled of our critics, the Toronto Star’s Richard Ouzounian.
 
How did you become a reviewer?

I first became interested in it as a kid, growing up in NYC, when there were still seven daily papers and you could read all their reviews the morning after opening nights!  But I spent most of my time from college on working as a director/writer/actor/lyricist, eventually working on over 250 productions all over North America and being Artistic Director of 5 major Canadian theatres.  But by age 40, I was getting tired of the carousel, and I had two kids to raise, so I shifted to the slightly more stable field of media.  CBC Radio in Toronto approached me about being their first ever theatre critic, which I did for 10 years, while also working as head of Arts Programming at TV Ontario and hosting the weekly show Say It With Music on CBC Radio as well.  In the spring of 2000, the Star approached me about becoming their Theatre Critic, I happily agreed and have never looked back.
 
Obviously not every show or style will be to your personal taste, so how do you keep yourself objective?

The question I always ask myself is “How well did they do what they set out to do?”  I once said that I would rather see a great Mamma Mia! than a bad Hamlet.  Of course, I would rather see a great Hamlet than anything else, but that’s not always how it works out 🙂

(Yes, The Ouz uses emoticons!!)
 
Being an acclaimed playwright and director definitely gives you more insight in to the “process” of theatre.  Do you think it also gives you a better perspective and basis for reviewing?

Absolutely.  I can often see when the fault is the director’s, or when the actor or the author is to blame. I can also tell when a cast have saved a director’s butt.  And that happens far more often than anyone would like to admit.

 
Though there are many female reviewers in on-line media, traditional media seems to be almost exclusively male.  Any thoughts on why that might be?

No idea!  We did have Kate Taylor at the Globe for years and I’d certainly like to see something breaking up the male dominance of Toronto print journalism, but it’s not like there’s a lot of candidates begging to be considered.

 
Any chance of your children following in the family biz?

Uh, no.   My daughter had thought of it for a while, but changed her mind the day a bartender carded her, asked if she was my daughter and flung a drink at her when she answered yes.

 
Any favourite Canadian plays?

Lots.  Of the Fields Lately.  Hosanna.  Scorched.  Billy Bishop Goes to War.  East of Berlin.  Courageous.  Zastrozzi.  Monster. 

 
Any plays, Canadian or otherwise, you’d love to see revived?

I’d like to see how some of Robertson Davies’ scripts hold up.  I’ve got a fondness for Jacobean Tragedy.  I also have been begging people for years to revive Robert Sherwood’s Idiot’s Delight, which is witty, pointed and far too relevant today.  And if you do Pinter, O’Neill, or Sondheim, I’ll probably show up as well.