I must admit, I do worry about what I've taken to calling the Cult Of Performance, in which the performing arts are a sort of zeppelin held aloft by the intentions and hopes of actors.
Think happy thoughts! Keep that zeppelin flying! Never say anything critical or impolitic! Never admit that you're taking a gig to make a little money! Never acknowledge that the audience even exists! Performance is about Performance, and nothing else! Theatre is magic! Money is irrelevant! We don't need to sell any tickets, the money just appears from a fountain in the producer's office! Happy thoughts! Happy thoughts! Every gig is an honour! Every role is your favourite! (I've always dreamed of playing Man With Spear #4 in a summerstock production of The Winter's Tale at the Bumf*ck, Nebraska Community Theatre! As a teenager, I would sit up late at night and pray that someday I'd get to stand just out of the light and look solemn! It's such a wonderful experience!) Happy thoughts! Happy thoughts! Performance is everything! Always an honour! Happy thoughts!
Instead of, you know... acknowledging that there's an industry here, with customers and employers and some pretty major downsides. Not every production deserves to run for decades, not every performance should be remembered, and not every part is a transcendent experience opening up windows into the human soul. And when we treat the entire thing as if we're in this land of constant milk and honey... eh.
Aside from the fact that it's quite transparent to begin with (We all know the code, right? "Interesting choices" means I HATED IT; "bold direction" means WHY DID YOU MAKE THEM DO THAT?!; "innovative staging" means IT WAS TERRIBLE; etc. etc. etc.), it makes it so much more difficult for us to talk about shows which deserve these laurels, and... welp.
Our honest opinions matter. We shouldn't just be relying upon outside reviewers (and, least of all, the general public) to provide feedback and suggestions and--when necessary--criticism. We know theatre better than anyone else. And if you're really concerned with performance (PERFORMANCE! PERFORMANCE! PERFORMANCE IS KING! PERFORMANCE IS EVERYTHING!), surely you want the opinions of fellow performers and those of us who devote our lives to studying, assisting and perfecting the work of these performers, rather than someone's aunt from Peoria who has an AOL account and isn't shy about dishing on the forums.
Consider the following conversation:
"Oh, darling, it was spectacular!"
"Could you hear me? The director made me face upstage during my big speech..."
"Oh, yes, but you look so stupendous from behind!"
"And we blew about four different dance numbers."
"Did you really?! It was so transcendentally wonderful that it didn't even occur to me!"
"And the lead got food poisoning partway through the third act, so his understudy finished the show."
"Oh, I didn't even notice!"
"And the set collapsed in act II, killing two chorus members."
"Nobody saw it, darling! It was wonderful!"
"And then the entire theatre burnt down."
"Oh, it was such an invigorating evacuation!"
If that's the only conversation we're allowed to have (and some people seem to think it should be), we're muffling ourselves and silencing criticisms which ought to be made, we're isolating ourselves from the realities of the industry (Okay, okay, so three audience members expired from boredom. But it was a fantastic show, darling!), and we're doing ourselves no particular service.
Don't be a jerk, obviously. But performance isn't that precious, especially not when it bumps up against everything else.
Edited for language. -missliz