British Theatre Guide
Encyclopedia
The British Theatre Guide is an on-line database of specially commissioned reviews of theatre
productions throughout the United Kingdom
, together with theatre-related news reports, interviews with leading theatre practitioners, obituaries and comprehensive annual obituary listings.
It also commissions reviews of opera
and dance
, as well as books, audio recordings and DVD
s.
In addition The British Theatre Guide provides full reviews of Edinburgh Festival
theatre events and links to news and reviews of amateur, student, youth and school productions in the UK.
Access to its database, a stable archive, is free to all users via alphabetic and subject indexes.
As of 2011, the British Theatre Guide has a UK-based team of 30 established theatre reviewers, plus overseas contributors, including correspondents from New York
and France
.
The London
editor is Philip Fisher who runs a small team of critics in the Greater London Area, including three members of The Critics' Circle
. The north west editor is David Chadderton, who is also a member of the Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards
panel.
By May 2008 The British Theatre Guide archive, with over 10,000 pages of on-line reviews and news, was receiving more than 120,000 page views each week. In addition its free weekly Newsletter is emailed to 3,200 subscribers worldwide.
, a university-based service which finds, evaluates and catalogues the best internet resources for education and research, reported in these terms on The British Theatre Guide (September 2005):
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
productions throughout the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, together with theatre-related news reports, interviews with leading theatre practitioners, obituaries and comprehensive annual obituary listings.
It also commissions reviews of opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
and dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
, as well as books, audio recordings and DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
s.
In addition The British Theatre Guide provides full reviews of Edinburgh Festival
Edinburgh Festival
The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
theatre events and links to news and reviews of amateur, student, youth and school productions in the UK.
Access to its database, a stable archive, is free to all users via alphabetic and subject indexes.
Background
The British Theatre Guide site and archive were founded on 18 November 2001 by its current editor, Peter Lathan, a former drama teacher. Lathan, who also writes plays and runs a small-scale professional theatre company, has been active in the field of on-line theatre databases since 1996.As of 2011, the British Theatre Guide has a UK-based team of 30 established theatre reviewers, plus overseas contributors, including correspondents from New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
The London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
editor is Philip Fisher who runs a small team of critics in the Greater London Area, including three members of The Critics' Circle
The Critics' Circle
The Critics' Circle is a professional association of British critics of dance, drama, film, music, visual arts and architecture. It was established in 1913 as an offshoot of the Society of Dramatic Critics, which had been formed six years earlier but had become inactive.For many years the Circle...
. The north west editor is David Chadderton, who is also a member of the Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards
Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards
The Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards, commonly referred to as the MEN or M.E.N. Awards, recognise excellence in live British theatre. They are administered by the Manchester Evening News, and are presented at an annual ceremony in Manchester, England...
panel.
By May 2008 The British Theatre Guide archive, with over 10,000 pages of on-line reviews and news, was receiving more than 120,000 page views each week. In addition its free weekly Newsletter is emailed to 3,200 subscribers worldwide.
Evaluation
IntuteIntute
Intute is a free Web service aimed at students, teachers, and researchers in UK further education and higher education. Intute provides access to online resources, via a large database of resources...
, a university-based service which finds, evaluates and catalogues the best internet resources for education and research, reported in these terms on The British Theatre Guide (September 2005):
- This site includes articles on all aspects of British theatre, indexed both by date and by subject. Subjects include, theatre history, ShakespeareWilliam ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
, and actors and acting. - There are also British theatre reviews from the UK and New York, book reviews, a news section, and a discussion forum.
- Other resources on this extensive site include a British Theatre Directors' Index, a British Actors' Index, a Directory of Theatres in Britain arranged town by town, a glossary of theatre terms, an amateur theatre index, playwrights' FAQFAQFrequently asked questions are listed questions and answers, all supposed to be commonly asked in some context, and pertaining to a particular topic. "FAQ" is usually pronounced as an initialism rather than an acronym, but an acronym form does exist. Since the acronym FAQ originated in textual...
s, and the text of some interviews of relevance to British theatre.
External links
- The British Theatre Guide home page
- Intute/Arts and Humanities Research Council: British Theatre Guide http://www.intute.ac.uk/artsandhumanities/cgi-bin/fullrecord.pl?handle=artifact6970
- British Theatre Guide seventh anniversary report, November 2008: http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/articles/161108.htm