This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2013/jul/12/nationality-theatre-country-audience-response

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
National theatre: do audience responses play out along country lines? National theatre: do audience responses play out along country lines?
(2 months later)
How much does our nationality influence our reaction to a play? It isn't something I've ever really considered: as a writer about theatre, I judge a production on how successful I feel it is in rising to the challenges presented by the play. I'd never wondered whether these judgments might be considered particularly "British" – until last weekend, which I spent at a conference for international theatre critics at the Almagro theatre festival in Spain.How much does our nationality influence our reaction to a play? It isn't something I've ever really considered: as a writer about theatre, I judge a production on how successful I feel it is in rising to the challenges presented by the play. I'd never wondered whether these judgments might be considered particularly "British" – until last weekend, which I spent at a conference for international theatre critics at the Almagro theatre festival in Spain.
Dedicated to "teatro clásico" – theatre from the 16th and 17th centuries: Spain's theatrical golden age, and that of many other countries around the world – the Almagro festival is Spain's answer to our own Edinburgh festival and France's Avignon. Performances are held in a number of venues around the small, historic town of Almagro – deep in Don Quixote country, about 100 miles south of Madrid – including the "Corral de Comedias", a stunningly well-preserved 17th-century theatre not unlike London's Globe.Dedicated to "teatro clásico" – theatre from the 16th and 17th centuries: Spain's theatrical golden age, and that of many other countries around the world – the Almagro festival is Spain's answer to our own Edinburgh festival and France's Avignon. Performances are held in a number of venues around the small, historic town of Almagro – deep in Don Quixote country, about 100 miles south of Madrid – including the "Corral de Comedias", a stunningly well-preserved 17th-century theatre not unlike London's Globe.
The festival runs throughout July and is now in its 36th year – but this is the first time that its organisers, together with the International University of La Rioja, have invited critics from around the world to spend three days in Almagro, discussing several of the festival's productions.The festival runs throughout July and is now in its 36th year – but this is the first time that its organisers, together with the International University of La Rioja, have invited critics from around the world to spend three days in Almagro, discussing several of the festival's productions.
So it was that I found myself taking part in a UN-style debate in a sweltering lecture room, complete with audience, laminated nameplates and simultaneous translators. We were discussing the play we'd all seen the night before: a production of La verdad sospechosa (The Suspicious Truth), Juan Ruiz de Alarcón's complex 17th-century comedy of untruth and mistaken identity, with a surprisingly moralistic ending (the main character, Don Garcia, gets his comeuppance for lying by having to marry a woman he doesn't love).So it was that I found myself taking part in a UN-style debate in a sweltering lecture room, complete with audience, laminated nameplates and simultaneous translators. We were discussing the play we'd all seen the night before: a production of La verdad sospechosa (The Suspicious Truth), Juan Ruiz de Alarcón's complex 17th-century comedy of untruth and mistaken identity, with a surprisingly moralistic ending (the main character, Don Garcia, gets his comeuppance for lying by having to marry a woman he doesn't love).
I enjoyed the production, from Spain's highly regarded National Classical Theatre Company. But what was interesting, as the debate ran on, was not so much hearing each critic's individual opinion, but how much that opinion seemed to bear the influence of their nationality. A Mexican critic set the ball rolling by talking about how much the play reflected Mexican identity: Ruiz de Alarcón was born in Mexico, and the critic saw the play as an expression of the identity crisis brought about by the Mexican conquest.I enjoyed the production, from Spain's highly regarded National Classical Theatre Company. But what was interesting, as the debate ran on, was not so much hearing each critic's individual opinion, but how much that opinion seemed to bear the influence of their nationality. A Mexican critic set the ball rolling by talking about how much the play reflected Mexican identity: Ruiz de Alarcón was born in Mexico, and the critic saw the play as an expression of the identity crisis brought about by the Mexican conquest.
A number of other opinions followed along national lines. The critic from Germany disliked the play because it was lacking psychological depth. A writer from France didn't think the play was serious enough. As the only Brit in the room, I found myself talking about the parallels between the production and the work of the Royal Shakespeare Company. And a critic from Madrid reminded us of the relevance of the theme of lying for a nation where trust in politicians is now at an all-time low (the evidence of Spain's heightened economic crisis is everywhere to be seen – one journalist told me that unemployment among under-25s now stands at around 50%).A number of other opinions followed along national lines. The critic from Germany disliked the play because it was lacking psychological depth. A writer from France didn't think the play was serious enough. As the only Brit in the room, I found myself talking about the parallels between the production and the work of the Royal Shakespeare Company. And a critic from Madrid reminded us of the relevance of the theme of lying for a nation where trust in politicians is now at an all-time low (the evidence of Spain's heightened economic crisis is everywhere to be seen – one journalist told me that unemployment among under-25s now stands at around 50%).
It's obvious, at one level, that our artistic tastes will have been shaped by the cultural milieu of the nation we grew up in – but I never expected to see reactions to a play divide so strongly along national boundaries. Must our reaction to theatre – and indeed any art form – always bear traces of the prejudices and expectations of our nationality? And if so, what is your own experience of how those prejudices and expectations play out?It's obvious, at one level, that our artistic tastes will have been shaped by the cultural milieu of the nation we grew up in – but I never expected to see reactions to a play divide so strongly along national boundaries. Must our reaction to theatre – and indeed any art form – always bear traces of the prejudices and expectations of our nationality? And if so, what is your own experience of how those prejudices and expectations play out?
Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning.