Friday, October 13, 2006

On the job...

Still find it interesting to observe theatre critics in action. It all started with a fascination I had with Charles Hutchinson, who writes for a newspaper in York and has a penchant for wearing a tank top. The first time I saw him "on the job" he used an enormous notepad and a very noisy pen, which sort of screamed "get out of my way, I'm here to review this!". A few weeks later he had replaced his noisy pen with one with a very bright light on the end, to aid writing in the dark although, in use, it lit up an entire row of seats. I've got over it now, Charles, you'll be pleased to know. Last night, although Hull Truck's Macbeth was only in preview, the Hull Daily Mail's ace feature writer William Ramsey was on critic's duty. Noticed that for the first half of a play Will, as he's known to his friends, opts to keep his coat, a sort of wax jacket with a nice furry collar, firmly in the "on" position. Post-interval, however, Will, by then relaxed after a hard day writing about "the arts", dispenses with his overcoat, revealing a lovely shirt and tie combo. Very nice modus operandi.

Off to the Local Studies library today to start researching a project that may well overtake my life in the coming months. It's a lovely old part of Hull's Central Library - all very dusty, fusty and full of cobwebs. I'm going to ease my way in gently by viewing as many news archives on microfilm as I can in an afternoon. I shall try and take a photograph so you know what my second home looks like.

2 comments:

Bazza said...

I've often wondered how you get to be a critic? do you need any special talents? Oh and by the way the blog is back up and running, I couldn't cope with the outpourings of grief.

Dave W said...

Well I worked as a critic for The Stage for a decade. Special talents? Ability to drink free drinks and sit in uncomfortable seating on a regular basis. Oh, and being willing to file the copy as soon as you've got home after a tortuous two/three hour drive. It was a wudderful life. Happy blogging, Bazza.