I was in [Production Company’s] production of The Merry Widow this week, and one particular critic left an unfavourable review of the show, criticising the cast (a lot of which, might I add, were volunteer) and the acting style used in the show. I think some of the comments he made were completely unjustified and quite hurtful to those involved.

  For example, the headline he used for the review was “Widow goes panto with odd casting and overacting.” Now, from this statement I can tell that [nameless critic to stay anonymous], obviously a sad old fart, does not understand the acting style that is traditionally used in operetta. Any fool, or any old fool, as I should probably say, would understand that in an operetta, the acting is not going to be naturalistic. The script of this particular show itself calls for heightened characters to the point of exaggeration. The show has lines such as “Oh, terrible! Terrible!”, and claiming in a negative way that the show is “going panto” and has “odd overacting” is a blatant display of ignorance about the genre.

  [Critic], grumpy and wrinkly, also provided contradicting statements in his review – he admitted that the show had a low budget (obviously forgetting that [Production Company] is a not-for-profit organisation) and then complained about the quality and how it wasn’t fantastical enough.

  But the main point I am trying to make is that [critic], operetta ignoramus, did not account for how the audience felt after the show. Audience members were positively glowing in the theatre foyer after each performance. My character of Njegus was the most overacted, and many people commented on how fun my character was to watch. So obviously [critic], a puritan, could not find any joy in his vulnerable-to-a-stroke heart to share with the world when he reviewed this production, as the principal characters my father and I played weren’t mentioned at all. The first thing my grandmother said after watching a show containing two of her family members, was that the chorus was magnificent, which the critic didn’t say.

  I know shows aren’t performed for critics. But [critic] can stick it up his rectum.