Theatre criticism and the National Post

[Denis.Salter]

Dear Colleagues:

What follows is an email conversation that I have had with Tim Rostron, Arts Editor, of the National Post.

I am indeed thinking of writing a letter of protest, though I fear in the current climate, doing so will be a waste of time.  Many of my students are also thinking of writing.

Btw, please do not infer that I was suggesting to Mr Rostron that Cushman is an ideal critic: the praise is his, not mine.
But better R.C. than NO BODY; and better R.C. in the print versions, rather than relegated to a website.

I find myself (almost) wishing that Lord Black (and Lady Amiel?) were still running the shop. That's an historic irony.  (Oh: I forgot: irony is out of fashion now, at least south of the 49th, on the grounds, I suppose,  that it seeks to reveal the discrepancy between the way that things seem to be and the way that they really are.  Mind, irony has almost always been declared passe when propaganda machinery is running at full tilt and dissent is likened to treason. (If you think I exaggerate about the latter point, see the week before last's edition of The Economist).

Denis.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: Rostron, Tim 
To: 'Denis.Salter' 
Sent: Sunday, October 21, 2001 6:48 PM
Subject: RE: 


We must not despair! Please do make your feelings known to the editor,
Kenneth Whyte - kwhyte at nationalpost.com.  

> ----------
> From: Denis.Salter
> Sent: Sunday, October 21, 2001 17:40
> To: Rostron, Tim
> Subject: Re: 
> 
> Dear Mr Rostron,
> 
> Thanks for the thorough explanation.
> 
> Would letters of protest help? Or is the matter so much beyond your
> control that they would be nothing more than wasted labour, ink, paper,
> and postage (or electricity?).
> 
> I look forward to hearing from you.
> 
> Denis
> 
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: Rostron, Tim 
> To: 'Denis.Salter' 
> Sent: Sunday, October 21, 2001 1:18 PM
> Subject: RE: 
> 
> Dear Denis Salter,
> 
> Our new owners have provided Arts with less than a page a day -
> rather less
> than before - and a tiny budget. But Robert Cushman does indeed
> still review
> for us (a review of his appeared in the paper's Toronto section on
> Saturday,
> and another on the Arts&Life page the day before that). When there
> is
> absolutely no room in the paper for a review I have arranged for him
> to
> write, then I place that review on the National post's web site
> -nationalpost.com - and perint a reference to it on the Arts&Life
> page. An
> archive of Robert Cushman's reviews can be found on the web site. 
> 
> But I share your regret that I cannot run more reviews by Robert
> Cushman,
> who I regard very highly and whose work I have been following ever
> since he
> wrote for Britain's Observer. But the situation here is, as they
> say,
> beyond my control.
> 
> Yours sincerely, Tim Rostron 
> 
> 
> 
> > ----------
> > From: Denis.Salter
> > Sent: Saturday, October 20, 2001 14:46
> > To: trostron at nationalpost.com
> > Cc: PAC4
> > 
> > Dear Mr Rostron,
> > 
> > I am not a regular reader of the NP but I was planning to be one,
> to
> > acquire a broader (critical) coverage of theatre and related art
> forms in
> > Toronto, and elsewhere that the NP decides to cover.
> > 
> > I believe that your theatre critic is Robert Cushman. But I have
> not been
> > able to find reviews by him, or indeed another theatre critic, in
> recent
> > issues.
> > 
> > Am I missing something? As you know, the country has a dearth of
> first
> > rate theatre critics. I do hope that you have not decided not to
> have a
> > regular theatre critic.
> > 
> > I look forward to hearing from you.
> > 
> > DWS
> > 
> > 
> > ****************************************
> > " . . . if Canada is not a police state it is because we no longer
> need to
> > be. We have mentally trained ourselves to the point where the
> policeman is
> > within ourselves as part of our collective thought process--a
> mental
> > discipline that has made Canada the most successful colony in 
> > the history of the world, whose control systems are no longer
> imposed 
> > from without but arise from the centre of our being."--John Gray. 
> > ********
> > Denis Salter
> > Professor of Theatre
> > McGill University
> > 853 Sherbrooke St West
> > Montreal 
> > H3A 2T6
> > Telephone (514) 398 6573
> > Email via Fax (309) 294 0444
> > Regular Fax (514) 398 8146
> > Email < denis.salter at mcgill.ca>
> > < d.salter at videotron.ca>
> > 
> > Home Office
> > 4965, avenue Connaught
> > Notre Dame De Grace
> > Montreal 
> > H4V 1X4
> > Telephone (514) 487 2568
> > Email via Fax (309) 294 0444
> > Regular Fax (514) 487 0157
> > Email < d.salter at videotron.ca>
> > < denis.salter at mcgill.ca>
> > ********************************************
> > 
> > 
> > 
> >
> 
>
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