Welcome to the Theatre Travels reviewing team!

 

We are so thrilled to have so many passionate artists and amazing writers on board now and to really be covering shows all around the country.

 

Central to Theatre Travels’ core is the idea that all shows, and therefore the company’s that produce them, deserve equal access to any publicity we can offer them. Small shows in the back of an art gallery get the same coverage as shows at the biggest theatres in the country. Everyone gets a review and the offer of an interview if requested. Shows may receive more coverage when they host a media call that we attend or invite us to a particular press opportunity. But the goal is always the same, quality reviews for ALL theatre.

 

To that end, we try not to say no which is why sometimes you’ll get messages or multiple emails about a particular show and needing a reviewer for it. We know how much work goes into making these stories come to life, we do it too, and so we try to always be available. There is no way we can have a 100% attendance record, but we certainly strive for it. That is why are teams are so big – we want to be there whenever the shows need us.

 

Theatre Travels started as just a small Instagram account and has since developed into a whole company. But, we don’t want to ditch our roots! I started the Instagram site as a way to share my opinions about all the shows that I was seeing no matter where I went, and many of our most loyal followers are still around from those days. I set up TT on Instagram with the intention of making reviews easy to access, easy to read and easy to help you decide whether or not you wanted to see a show.

 

Those goals are still at the heart of our reviews. We intentionally do not go for overly academic rhetoric or jargon, we want to make sure that everyone can read and understand these reviews quickly and simply – we want them to want to see the show by the end of your review and we want them to know that, when they just need a bit of fair information and a yes or a no to spending their money on a ticket, that they can turn to Theatre Travels. So, don’t ever feel pressure to make your reviews a Nobel prize deserving piece, keep them friendly, accessible and user-conscious. Many of our readers are busy, working people too so we keep them quick and fun for this reason too.

 

We also keep them on social media and so we do ask you to take photos at the shows. This may seem like a little burden but it is REALLY important to us because it aligns with our roots, it honours our initial, loyal followers who are still on social media, and because it is what we have promised to the companies that we are reviewing in order to help them get the word out there that the show is on. 

 

Sometimes it is hard to know what to write, especially if you really didn’t like the show. We have tips on how to face this challenge because, trust me, we have been there before! But remember, if you’re struggling, come to us as early as possible about it, not in hour 35 or 36 but rather in hour 10-12 and let us see if we can help at all. Some of us have been reviewing for years so let us see if we have any tips to help out!

 

Being on time with your review is really important. I do ask that if you’re going to be late, let you let me know as I need to then send an apology to the publicist before they start chasing us (and they do). I know life comes up, I have SO been there!  So I am always really understanding, I just need notice so that I can fix it quickly.

 

When I edit, I look for mistakes but not for problems in your opinion. I never change that! I look for the typos, the grammatical accidents and, most importantly for me, I check the overall tone of your piece and that it aligns with Theatre Travels reviews. I do edit all of the reviews alone though so I need to ask everyone to help out with the following as we are just too busy for me to catch these all otherwise:

 

1. Please always run your document through a spelling and grammar check BEFORE you send it to me.
    

2. Please check for typos – please do one thorough read through to make sure it’s all good to go and then send through. It’s a 5 min job if everyone does their own but adds hours to my day if I have to do them all.
    

3. Fact check – this is SO important!! Please make sure that you have all the cast and crew names and background information correct before sending through to me. Please triple check this.

 

These are the three MOST important things to do to check your work and to be a hero in my eyes.

 

We are ALWAYS here – I’m best contacted at carly@theatretravels.org or if you need me urgently, you have my mobile number and we are all friends on Facebook so shoot through a message. Rosie is contactable at rosie@theatretravels.org. Please contact us with any questions, concerns, queries, etc – we are here are as a resource for all our reviewers and also as a support team.

 

Thank you for being part of our Theatre Travels family

Xx Carly