|
|
|
|
Articles
|
|
|
Articles |
Theatre Newsgroups RevisitedDateline: 13th April, 2003On 21st February, 2001, I wrote an article entitled Usenet Revisited, looking at theatre newsgroups, which I had previously written about some two years before. The 2001 article was more positive than the earlier one, but still, on balance, I concluded that really theatre newsgroups weren't terribly useful. Have things changed since then? I subscribe to rec.arts.theatre.plays, rec.arts.theatre.stagecraft, rec.arts.theatre.misc and uk.cuture.arts.theatre. I used to subscribe to alt.fan.british-actors and rec.arts.theatre.musicals but dropped them, although I do occasionally dip into the latter. Occasionally, just for comparison purposes really, I look at aus.theatre, which deals with theatre in Australia. There's also a French theatre newsgroup - fr.rec.arts.theatre - which I have also been known to glance at. There are also a number of other national groups - Germany, Netherlands, Scandinavia - which I don't visit because of the language problem (I can just about make out the some of the German postings - just). And, of course, there's alt.acting, which I occasionally look at. Hence I would say that I have a fairly extensive experience of theatre newsgroups, so I am in a reasonable position to make comment - albeit personal and even idiosyncratic! Are they useful? Of them all, the one I find most useful personally - because it is the one which is most directly relevant to my sphere of interest - is uk.culture.arts.theatre. When Jezza from Bristol set it up, there was some opposition: it will be full of Americans asking what to see in London, one critic suggested. However, although it is not a very busy group, it remains (usually) pretty firmly on-topic and does deal with quite a wide variety of UK-theatre-related subjects. As in all newsgroups, there are the regular contributors, but they are all involved in theatre either amateur or professional and most queries are dealt with knowledgeably. The busiest newsgroups are rec.arts.theatre.musicals and rec.arts.theatre.stagecraft. I stopped subscribing to the former because of a very heavy US bias. Although I clearly have an interest in what is happening in the States and, of course, many of the major shows are the same in both countries, I admit I found it a little tedious wading through a great deal of material which was totally irrelevant to me. The stagecraft group, however, is different. There is a US bias here too, but there are more contributions from UK posters and the topics are universal. The equipment the US posters mention may not be available over here, but the principles behind what they say are equally as applicable and there is usually a UK equivalent bit of gear. The contributors are very definitely experts - or, at least, have a lot of expertise - and I have learned a lot. I've also made my contribution too. And there are some real characters amongst the regulars! Everyone should meet Frank Wood! The other groups are still US-centric, especially the plays group, but there are some useful snippets to be picked up. I have to say that it is the arrival of the uk group which leads me to say that Usenet is more useful now than in the past - that and the rarity of the Net fascists who seem to have given up or, more likely, have hidden themselves away in some other area of the Web where they can bemoan the lack of netiquette to their hearts' content. I would finish by saying that anyone who is serious about British theatre should subscribe to - and contribute to! - uk.culture.arts.theatre Articles Indices:
|
|
|