Depressing, but we're recovering

Good audience today for "Bang Bang You're Dead."  About 25 people and the show seemed to go very well.  "Winner..." was less fortunate: only 4 and they were all related to Ian.  Not a good sign.

Also, we got our first two reviews, both from the ThreeWeeks; a daily publication that attempts to see as many of the festival shows as possible.  Here's the Bang Bang You're Dead review:

Bang Bang You're Dead
The Red Chair Players West
"I wanted to kill you. But I didn't want you dead". This emotive exploration of the Columbine shootings attempts to explore and understand how a boy can become a killer. Josh - in a forceful lead performance - is tortured by the memories of his victims killed in the high school rampage. Moving fluently between childhood memories and flashbacks to the killings, there are some powerful moments (his victims slowly unravel red ribbons when they are shot and make ghostly use of torches), but the play fails to convincingly evoke the world it attempts to condemn, in a production where a strong lead is counterbalanced by a mixed chorus. 'Bang Bang You're Dead' is intelligent and thought-provoking, but won't blow you away.
C, 4 - 13 Aug, 3.40pm (4.30pm), £6.50 - £9.50, fpp 229.
tw rating 3/5
[mm]

I'm not sure that I agree with his contention about "evoking the world it attempts to condemn": the play isn't about condemning, it's about paying attention.  This is the first critic that I know of to miss that.  3 out of 5 isn't too bad - it's basically a "good" and won't hurt our chances at the box office.  However, it's not "great" and we'll need to fill in with some impassioned marketing and some clever stunts.  

What's more distressing is the review for "Winner By Submission"…

Winner by Submission
The Red Chair Players West
The cast work hard here with the sensitive subject of date rape and what happens when teenage boys take things too far. Whilst it's evident that much thought and research has gone into the writing of such material, this is clumsily directed and not convincing; the actors occasionally upstage each other, hindering sight and sound, and the few humorous moments there are fall flat. The onstage stack of seemingly pointless cardboard boxes is puzzling and the constant spilling and spraying of copious beer bottles rams the teenage party setting down everyone's throats. The play descends all too quickly from banter about virginity and porn into a lumbering attempt at a gang rape. It's uncomfortable viewing, but not in a good way.
C, 4-14 Aug, 4.45pm (5.35pm), £6.50 - £9.50, fpp 305.
tw rating 1/5
[gjs]

Now this is a problem.  A 1 out of 5 is as low as you can get.  What's worse is how he dismisses the larger picture of the play and the great character work of the cast.  Bill, the playwright, responded to the cast with this:

Mike and the Troupe,

In the WBS review, the reviewer struggles to grasp the essential story and characters. He does not ever touch on the personal dynamics, which make up the core of the play, which makes everything he says dismissable. It's really more unfortunate (unlucky to get him) than it is a bad review. But perhaps people will stay away by reading it, and others may come who hear word of mouth. To the troupe I would say it's important to be an artist knowing that you have given your best, period, and all else is the cherry on the cake. Too bad you didn't get a person who could get past the beer bottles. He was grasping at straws to wrap his little mind around the big action of the play. Seriously, do what you must to get past this silly review which will the lining of somebody's parakete cage while the troupe is moving audiences with this important play.

I think that summed it up nicely for all of us.  

We had a good evening of "flyering" - I've recently been corrected by the group (though I would argue that busking is a universal term applied to what they're doing).  The kids pulled some clever stunts, accosted a goodly number of people, and spelled out the importance of shows that deal with increasingly common moral dilemmas.  We're hitting the streets again tomorrow morning and evening.  We're determined to get more people in to see our shows and get past/through these reviews.  

More reviews coming.  Still expecting a review on "Winner…" by the Scotsman (perhaps tomorrow) and another from The List for BBYD.  A critic from the Herald will be in tomorrow to see BBYD and another to see WBS next week.  

I have more pictures, but may not get to posting them this evening.  It's getting late and I have to escort Kiran and Sandhya to the airport tomorrow: they're staying with our relatives in London next week.