Reviewing it like it is
One of the good things about the Zimbabwe Independent newspaper is Dusty Miller and his restaurant reviews. I like that he calls a spade a spade and doesn’t hide behind a pseudonym (one of Zimbabwe’s many dysfunctions). The majority of Zimbabwean restaurants are overpriced and mediocre which is what he pointed out in his last review of Millers Restaurant in Borrowdale.
In another gruelling review, this time theatre, Susan Hains writing for The Standard newspaper gave The Importance of Being Earnest a bashing. She made some good points I think. I saw the play and also wondered about the choice of music. When I heard the first bit of music I got excited thinking that the play would be seriously re-worked but instead it wasn’t and the music seemed inappropriate. I’m surprised the reviewer didn’t mention having an issue with the accents which I thought were all over the place. Disagreeing with Susan though, I believe that a great deal of work went into rehearsing and staging the play; it wasn’t “thrown together”.
The audience the night I was there provided both respite and frustration. In front of me a lumber jack look a like sat with a big bag of Frittos on his lap for most of the play and continually delved into the bag, crackling and crunching his way through the production. To the left of the lumberjack a very fat school boy nosily chomped his way through a Pascal milk chocolate bar. And behind me two old geezers talked about the play being rather too high brow for them; that they were pleased they’d had a few toots before the show and were glum when they realised it only ended at 930pm and that they’d miss the second half of the evening’s football match.