I am Nigel Smith, an unrepentant addict of live performance and I am based in Liverpool. All the reiews published on this site are written by me, either exclusively for my own site or for a range of other publications, including The Stage, Good News Liverpool and Musical Theatre Review.
This site also contains all the archive content from my earlier blog, and I am working through my files to upload work previously written for other outlets. Each review that has been written for publication elsewhere will be annotated to show this, and there will usually be a link to the publication in question. In some cases, reviews written for other outlets can only be published on this site after the contractual exclusivity period has elapsed.
Sometimes my words will have been modified by staff editors at the publications they are published by. Where this is the case, what will be published here will be my own original unedited text. Therefore if you have previously read an item elsewhere you may find some differences. I will leave it for you to decide whether you prefer my original version or that of the editor. Reviews I have written for The Stage will be shorter than most of my other work because, due to the volume of shows that they cover each week, they have to impose strict limits on word count.
My main purpose in writing is to
share the passion that I have for live performance. Everything I write
is a very personal opinion, but I do always try to be as impartial and
honest as I can. I like to judge a production on its own
terms. It would be foolish to try and directly compare a production of a
piece of classical drama with a production made for children, or a lavish musical to a
pantomime. I will always try to give my best assessment of whether each
piece of work rises to its own intentions and works for its target audience.
When I began writing reviews for my own site I avoided allocating star ratings, because I believe they are generally unhelpful and can end up being the only thing that a reader will take note of. The body of the review itself should allow the reader to determine what they might like or dislike about a production - something that I mention which in my view is a negative aspect could be a plus point to another person. However most publications and many production companies feel that a star rating is important to them. Therefore you will find that star ratings frequently appear on reviews that I have written for publication or syndication in another media outlet.
It is true that my reviews frequently tend to err in
the direction of positive ratings, but this is because I am fortunate to have the
luxury of choosing what to attend, therefore manage to avoid pieces
that are likely to be poor. However, if I do find a work disappointing I will always seek to offer a balanced view and try to highlight the places where it succeeded, as well as noting where it fell short of expectations. I try to write not on the basis of whether I personally liked a piece of work, but rather aim to give a verdict on how well it achieved what it was setting out to do. If, for example, I am seeing a show aimed at a 2-3 year old audience, then I will be taking careful note of how well engaged those youngsters present are. If I enjoy such a show but the target audience are clearly bored to tears, then it is failing to hit its target, regardless of how slick it might appear to me.
I will not normally give star ratings on reviews of non-professional performances, as I don't believe that it is appropriate or helpful. My overall opinion should be discernible from the body of the review.
All ratings shown here will be out of a total of Five Stars. If the original publication had a different rating scale, then the rating here will be an equivalent on a scale of one to five. The ratings effectively mean:
★☆☆☆☆ Extremely poor
★★☆☆☆ Below average
★★★☆☆ Good
★★★★☆ Very Good
★★★★★ Outstanding
All determined by comparing the production with other works of its type.
One and five star ratings are used very sparingly, only for those productions that are quite exceptional at the extremes of the scale.
Content copyright
All written review material on this site is by Nigel Smith, except where indicated to be a quote from another author. The content may have also been published elsewhere, with my permission, under a syndication-type arrangement, and some will have been commisioned for another publication and reproduced here after any contractual exclusivity period has expired.
I am delighted for anyone to quote or reproduce, either in whole or in part, any of my reviews, especially where publicising their own reviewed work, but when doing so please acknowledge me as the author and, where possible, use links back to my site. However, please do not use extracts or 'soundbites' in such a way as to misrepresent or alter the meaning of my words.
Images used to accompany reviews will normally have been supplied by the theatre or producing company, and the originator and copyright holder of such images will be credited here alongside them wherever this has been made known. Any uncredited images will have been made available by the theatre or producing company without any author credit, but such images may nonetheless be subject to copyright.
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