Onderstaande quote komt van de blog van acteur Richard Cotton die in de voorstelling Captain Blick speelt. Interessant om de andere kant van het verhaal eens te lezen
So, with press night almost two weeks ago now, we (the Imagine This company) find ourselves in a curious situation.
I think it’s fair to say that a number of the critical reviews (not all, but many) have been fairly scathing. More often than not, the reviewer’s focus has been whether or not this production should ever have been conceived and brought to the stage at all. Why? They seem to feel that the Warsaw Ghetto in 1942 is not an appropriate or tasteful backdrop for a musical, in much the same way I suppose as it would be inappropriate to set a musical in revolutionary France or during the Vietnam War - for example. Of course some reviewers simply didn’t like it - not to their taste - and they’re entitled to their opinion, after all a theatrical experience (as with any art form) is by definition subjective. From a creative point of view it is cynical to attempt to please everyone. Ultimately you can only be true to yourself; and I can say in a clear and confident voice - if you have made up your mind that you do not want to see a musical set in the Warsaw Ghetto in 1942, then don’t come and see Imagine This.
But here’s the rub. At the end of each performance of Imagine This we take our curtain call to an audience, a large percentage of whom have spontaneously risen to their feet. People are crying and cheering. I’ve never experienced anything quite like it in my 15 years working in professional theatre. I think I’m a reasonably intelligent person, (though I don’t think I’d qualify for MENSA, I don’t have that kind of brain), and I think I take quite a balanced view on things generally.
I don’t think I’m prone to being swept up in a whirl of euphoria. However, I simply cannot ignore the emotion in the auditorium of the New London Theatre every single night. People are moved and inspired by this production.
‘Oh you just want to keep the punters coming in! You’d say anything!!’
Well I’ll tell you what - yes, there are commercial considerations for the producers and for the crew and the actors, we all need to pay our mortgages after all; but any actor will tell you there is nothing more demoralising professionally than perfoming night after night in a show that doesn’t work, and we know when a show isn’t working because we’re on the front line. Imagine This doesn’t fall into that category. We know this because the audience tells us every night - and I want this show to run because I love it.
Bron http://www.imaginethisthemusical.com
