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Dateline: 5th September, 2004 Naughty! It is a long-established tradition in the theatre that previews are no-go areas for journalists. They are treated as rehearsals with audience, to make sure the production is at its best for the official opening, the press night. The Guardian, however, has broken this rule, in spirit if not according to the "letter of the law", by sending a panel of eight "commentators" (including politicians Robin Cook and Anne Widdecombe and political commentators Polly Toynbee, David Aaronovitch and Max Hastings) along to the first preview of Stuff Happens by David Hare at the National Theatre. The paper claims that they were not there to review, but to comment on the policial content of the piece, and that the actual review, by chief theatre critic Michael Billington, will not happen until the press night. In fact, the various commentators did more or less review the show, not just commenting on the political viewpoint but also referring in depth to the production. In keeping with the spirit of the agreement between press and theatres, we will not reproduce or comment upon anything of what they said here. Please note that all three Archive indices are very long and will therefore take some time to download.
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