With over 100 Fringe shows in, Part 2 of our series continues with Sun Media’s John Coulbourn.
How did you become a reviewer?
I just sort of fell into it. In a way, it all seems sort of pre-ordained in that I had the good fortune to have a father who was highly opinionated and a mother who taught school and therefore was able to teach me the verbal and rational skills to hold my own against the paternal deluge. I started in newspapers more as an administrator than a writer and gradually gravitated to reviewing, starting with movies and then just sort of moving on. through restaurants, television, pretty much a bit of everything Theatre had long been a passion, so I just sort of gravitated to that, particularly once I realized that I no longer wanted any part of even an alternate reality that could be saved by the likes of Sylvester Stallone or Arnold Schwarzenegger, which tells you how long ago I gave up movie reviewing.
Obviously not every show or style will be to your personal taste, so how do you keep yourself objective?
The objectivity is most necessary before you watch a show and after it, it think. That is, after all, the time when you determine just who the target audience is and what the playwright and director are trying to accomplish and that sort of thing. Once the lights go down, you simply watch yourself watching the play and report on that in as objective a way as possible.
But let’s face it, the act of watching good theatre is rarely objective. I think the main thing a reviewer should bring to the theatre is an open mind and, corny as it sounds, an open heart. Objectivity is nice — but it can only get you so far. I absolutely loved Rent the first time I saw it, even though I certainly wasn’t the target audience and I think it was because I was watching it with my heart as well as my head.
Do you think having been in the business gives one a better perspective and basis for reviewing?
I think it is probably different for everyone. Personally, I did a lot of soul searching before I started reviewing theatre, because I didn’t want to do it merely as a stepping stone to something else.
I don’t think that if I had been, say, a director that I would be able to be content with simply reviewing a show, rather than redirecting it or, had I been an actor that I could discuss a performance without thinking “Well, I wouldn’t have done it that way.” There are people who can do that I suppose, but I’m most definitely not one of them.
Besides, I kind of like the idea of being a professional audience. Theatre, after all, is full of people who have found the one thing they do well and then have concentrated on it, and I think I’ve always been a pretty good audience, — so I think I’ll stick with that.
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?
That’s a tough one. There are a number of female critics reviewing in the mainstream and I would like to see more, especially here in Toronto, where despite a long tradition that includes Gina Mallet, Jill Lawless and Kate Taylor, there are none currently working full-time in print. I was so sorry to see Lynn Slotkin let go by the CBC. It has been suggested on occasion that perhaps women are not as accustomed to expressing opinions as men, but frankly, I think a lot of the women I’ve named above put the lie to that pretty effectively.
Any favourite Canadian plays?
You bet! But after 20 odd years (some very odd) of reviewing theatre, they are far too numerous to mention, Right now, I’m thrilled we have Wadji Mouawad working in Canada in either official language.
I learned so much from the plays of George F. Walker, Sharon Pollack and John Murrell over the years, and from Daniel MacIvor and Jasont Sherman that I suspect I will always have a soft spot in my heart for each of them — but ultimately, my favourite Canadian play is one that tells any Canadian’s story.
Any plays, Canadian or otherwise, you’d love to see revived?
I have really enjoyed Soulpepper’s revisiting of the works of David French, and hopefully Factory will continue to keep the Walker canon alive, but frankly, I don’t think it’s enough. After years of constant pushing to create new work, I think it’s time all our theatres took a few minutes to look back over that work and revive the best of it. The Ecstasy of Rita Joe, The Faraway Nearby, Ten Lost Years, even a silly little musical I saw in Calgary back when dinosaurs roamed the earth called You Two Stay Here, The Rest Come With Me. — There are literally hundreds of shows I’ve enjoyed immensely that I would love to have the opportunity to revisit, simply to see if they are as good as I remember them.