Indy Theatre Habit

Email:  amarylliswriter at gmail dot com.

The tagline for Indy Theatre Habit is “Reviews and reflections related to all aspects of live theatre and storytelling in the Indianapolis, Indiana (USA) area.” 

I started this blog at the end of January, 2008, learning as I went about blogging in general and about my blog in particular.  I am still learning, of course, and I hope I always will be.

At the BlogIndiana conference in August of 2008 I attended a session on blogging ethics and etiquette given by Renee Wilmeth of FeedMeDrinkMe.com, a popular food and restaurant review blog at the time.  Renee encouraged all bloggers who review any kind of product or service to articulate their review policies and share them on their blogs.

Here are mine (last updated 4-14-10):

• I welcome and appreciate offers of media passes.  I have gone back and forth on the ethics of this, but the reality is that I simply can not afford to write about as many shows as I do if I have to pay my own way.  I am still donating to the community my time plus the cost of my transportation and the cost of hosting my blog.  I am also transparent about the fact that I accept media passes.  (Transparency is at the heart of blogging ethics.)  I also try very hard to see and write about shows at a wide variety of theatres, and I sometimes do buy tickets if a theatre cries poor for a show I very much want to see.  This is the best I can do until I become independently wealthy.
• If I accept a media pass, I am promising to do my best to write about that show in my own way here on my blog within a week of seeing the show.  That’s all. 
  • I am not promising to write a publicity piece or a positive review or even a professional review.  I admire professional journalists but I have had no training (yet) in writing professional theatre reviews. 
  •  I am not promising to write a critique to help the actors or anyone else associated with the show “improve.”
  • I am not promising to tell my readers to see (or not see) the show.  I try to give enough information so that my readers can decide for themselves whether or not the show is something they would enjoy, but I always, always, always encourage people to go see a show and decide for themselves whether it is “good” or not.
  • I am not promising to be “honest” if honesty means being harsh or negative.  However, this is not about hurt feelings.  I focus on what I appreciate about a show because “what worked” is what interests me.  However, I do try to be honest about how the show made me feel and what it made me think about.  If a show deeply disappointed me, I write about that, too. 
  • I am not promising to link to my review from IndianaAuditions.com or SmallerIndiana.com or anywhere else.  Sometimes I do that if I have time because it helps get the word out about my blog, but I never promise to do anything more than write about the show here on Indy Theatre Habit. 
• If I do not accept a media pass, it does not mean that I am not interested in you, your theatre or your show.  It just means that I couldn’t squeeze it in this time.  I always have at least three offers of media passes for every night I have free.  Please try again with your next show!  Even if I had time to see and write about five shows a week (which I don’t), I still would not be able to see all of the shows in the Indianapolis area.  I give first consideration to theatres whose media relations person (volunteer or professional) emails me season announcements, press releases, and publicity photos on a regular basis because these help me to offer a blog that is fun, interesting, and informative.   However, my main goal is to see and write about a wide variety of theatre and storytelling shows in the Indianapolis area.  I am proud of our rich theatre scene.
• In general, I do not write reviews of preview performances because I want to write reviews of finished pieces of art, not publicity pieces or critiques for works in progress.
• I concentrate on reviewing shows that have been produced by adults for adults.   There is a lot of wonderful youth theatre in the Indianapolis area, and I know several teens that do theatre at their high schools and middle schools.  I will try to see their shows and support them emotionally, artistically, and financially as much as I can.  I believe it is important to nurture future theatre artists and audiences.   However, I don’t have time to see and write about everything, so for my blog I focus on what I like best, which is theatre for grown-ups.   By the way, I encourage all adults to find shows and theatres that you like because you like them, not because your kids are in them.  Life really is better with a shot of (grown-up) theatre in it.
• I don’t pretend to be an expert on theatre.  One of the reasons I write about theatre is to learn about it.

And finally, a disclaimer, which I have had here on my blog since mid-August 2008:

Disclaimer: All data and information provided on this site is for informational purposes only. Indy Theatre Habit makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, currentness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site & will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis.

Hope Baugh – www.IndyTheatreHabit.com

See also @IndyTheatre on Twitter.com and www.youtube.com/IndyTheatreHabit

Photo taken by Julie Curry in August of 2008.