UK Cabaret letters to the editor

Our managing editor Mark Ritchie recently made the announcement that, although we will be continuing to offer review coverage for individual agents showcases, we will no longer be willing to offer review coverage to the so-called national showcases. This is due to sustained negativity from certain quarters and a sense of general unpleasantness, which we are trying to remove ourselves from. Below is reaction to our announcement sent to our social media pages from some of our readers.

‘I don’t blame you. There are lots of troublemakers about. I get tired of all the nasty remarks they make. Good luck to you all. I’m sorry you have been forced to do this’. From Gina Atkinson via FB

‘Good luck with this. I remember you gave us our first ever review. It was honest and encouraging and I was incredibly grateful for that. Honest reviews provide the opportunity to improve. Keep doing what you do’. From Karen Etherington via FB

‘I’m sad to hear this but I understand. Egos can be bloody fragile! But as artistes I think that critique and praise are so important and aggression should never be the response. We should grow from it. The first review you (Mark Ritchie) ever gave me was at Curtains Up showcase. I was fairly new to the game and very shy. You wrote lovely things about my voice and image but that, ‘performance wise I was so laid-back I was practically horizontal’. You know what that review did? It boosted my confidence that people were enjoying my voice, but it kicked my a*se to improve my stage presence. So, I worked on it…hard! The next time you reviewed me, you saw that difference. It made me grow. Then I did another one and you compared me to Theopilus P Wildebeest (A character invented by Lenny Henry for television). I was howling with laughter when I read it. Tongue in cheek- but with an element of truth’. From Dayton Grey via FB

‘Your announcement regarding the national showcases is such a shame as you only ever sent seasoned professionals to cover (the national) showcases and to write reviews’. From Scotty Miller via FB

‘We used to wait patiently for your reviews in The Stage newspaper in order to take on-board what you had written. We did exactly the same with your last review’ (In UK Cabaret). Wishing you every success in the future. From Alison Burns via FB

‘There is a lot of ego replacing talent these days. Good luck with your new event venture’. From Leeann James via FB

‘I was a little sad to hear the news that, although you will continue to cover sole agent showcases, you will not be covering national showcases any more. Regarding your planned new event, I am intrigued’! From Krystian Wharton via FB

‘Good luck with your planned new event. I think the industry deserves something different and needs to change’. From Alan Becks via FB

Mark Ritchie writes; Regarding the national showcases, in my view some elements now resemble a bear-pit and I no longer wish to pay good money in order to provide review coverage by the learned and distinguished members of our review team (Adam Press, Catherine Usher, Johnny Tait, Mike Martin, Trevor Davies and Vicky Bailey) who have in some cases suffered abuse from the keyboard warriors on FB, or worse still, face to face.