Hi Anna, great idea for a theatre review section. As for keeping an on line diary of the Edinburgh play, if it was just down to me I'd say yes in a moment, however my writing partner/ performer would rather keep things under wraps. However when and if it all kicks off, I'd be only too happy to write something on the subject.

There is, in my humbled opinion, a slight problem with theatre(which incidentally is something I am also passionate about despite sleeping around with its Sister the Novel... but hey - she don't know about that ) and I believe it to be the follwing factors (for the purpose of debate)

1. Shakespeare.
I am sure I am one of the few but I hate him. I find his work boring and though people may argue that I don't understand him or appreciate the finer points of his writing I can't help but feel there are far more interesting playwrights and plays that have been written than King Lear... but you never got to read much of anyone else at school unless you were doing O'level, G.C.S.E or A'level theatre/drama. Most people think theatre they think Shakespeare and most teenagers would enjoy a modern play (and seeing it not reading it) than slaving through a Mid Summer Nights Dream. Effectively school taught many people that theatre could be boring.

2. The Borgeoius
Now I guess that despite my spelling of borgeouis what I really mean is the intelligentsia. There is/are a group of people who beleive that theatre, like modern art, is purely an intellectual exploit and rubbish anything that isnt intellectually stimulating. Therefore the fringe is filled with highly interesting but sadly inaccessable (spelt wrongly) performances that keep most people off of theatre. I too can be a bit of a theatre snob but why cant plays just be fun? Why do people do their best to take the fun out of theatre.

3. The Musical Extravaganza
Ofcourse then it goes the other way. The Musical. It is either boring shakespeare, people pretending to be trees or Andrew Loydd Webber... that is the average or uneducated masses experience of theatre. People say 'lets go to the theatre' and they pop off to see a musical because its great value for money (is it?) and they know what they're going to get. That is the English mentality, people are more likely to go for something they know than something different, e.g. a concert advertising the 1812 Overture and a concert premiering a new piece of classical music... if its £20 do you want to take the risk that it might be total twosh?

4. Money
You have a great idea for a story. You want to be a writer. You write a play. It goes to the Eddingbrough. You get spotted. You get given a TV/Film contract. You write for them and earn money. The fringe festivals are the breeding grounds of talent, take for example 'The League of Gentlemen', originally this was a theatre group but they were so popular on the fringe that they received a TV deal. Basically the talented playwrights get kidnapped by TV and film where there are better financial rewards. Young writters like to write for film because there is more glamour and more money... if you write a play for the local church hall few people will see it and it will cost you more to put on than you will actually make, therefore most playwrights are genuinely passionate about what they do. That is not to say that all people writting for TV or film are money chasers, I am just highlighting the fact that it is a major draw for new writers. That's not so much an isue as at least the people who write for theatre do write for genuine reasons so you dont get plays like '2 Fast 2 Furious' which are written purely to spin merchandise etc... having said that, write a good musical and you're laughing.

Im summary, I think the problem here Tim is that there are few incentives for new writers and few rewards in this medium added to the fact that Theatre became shaddowed by TV and Film and that it became fashionable again but through Musical spectacles... damn it... now I'm just getting confussed!

Excuse my prevarications.

Courtney

(this forum posting is also available in paperback )