'It feels like punching a pal'

Four writers on what it's like to be a critic in a close-knit theatre community

Edinburgh. Photo: Hongbin

Fergus Morgan, Edinburgh

I am writing these words for Exeunt while I take a break from putting together another article: an opinion piece for The Stage on the National Theatre of Scotland and the current malaise in which it finds itself. It is one of the trickiest pieces I have ever written.

Why? Well, because the Scottish theatre industry is small and supportive, and writing something nakedly critical about an essential organisation feels shitty. It feels like crossing a line, like betraying a friend, like biting the hand that feeds me. Hell, the National Theatre of Scotland recently helped me out enormously with my podcast, A History Of Scottish Drama In Six Plays. And this is what I do to them in return? Ugh.

When I lived and worked in London, I used to get a kick out of saying cruel things about certain producers, theatres and shows. I had a – probably misplaced – sense of punching up when I laid into the National Theatre or Andrew Lloyd Webber. And I knew that I was probably never going to meet Rufus Norris or Lloyd Webber face to face.

Things are different now. I moved to Scotland in 2019 and became The Stage’s Scotland correspondent a couple of years later. My job does not just involve reviewing shows up here, it also involves reporting Scottish theatre news and interviewing Scottish artists. I am no longer only seeing industry professionals at opening nights: I am liaising with them on a day-to-day basis. I am on first-name terms with artistic directors. I play tennis with press officers. I get coffee with theatremakers. I was even made an honorary member of the Scottish Society of Playwrights last year.

Not only does that mean that I know and like a lot of the people I regularly write about, it means that I have a much deeper understanding of the challenges they face, and consequently have a lot of sympathy for their struggles. And while that understanding and sympathy is vital to be a good journalist, it often makes it harder to be a good critic. Writing negative things like this article about the National Theatre of Scotland does not feel like punching up. It feels like punching a pal. And only a sociopath would enjoy that.