We don’t provide star ratings on festival reviews for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I don’t like them in general, though they are unfortunately a side-effect of everyone else using them when you’re reviewing West End and Fringe theatre: they help sell shows, PR people tell me. But, secondly, festivals feel a bit different when it comes to theatre & circus.
For many of the musical acts, playing Glastonbury will be their only show of the weekend. In The 1975’s case, Glastonbury was their only show of the year. The demands of theatre & circus are entirely different. Any act gracing the Theatre & Circus fields is likely to be playing multiple times across the weekend – they may even be playing multiple times as multiple different acts.
Chris Lynam, for example, performs a solo set in Rimski’s Yard and as part of a duo on the riser stages. Dani Fortune performs as Missy Impossible during the day and Missy Fortune at night in Mavericks. And with many of these acts relying heavily on audience participation, it seems unfair to base a review or a star rating solely on one performance when there are so many variables in place.
This is one of the reasons why, when I go to Glastonbury, I don’t review all the acts I see. If an act has one bad performance at the festival because the particular make-up of the crowd simply isn’t in the mood, it doesn’t feel fair for me to come along and stick the boot in – they may have had ten amazing performances before that. There is a certain level of judgment involved.
That isn’t to say I won’t give a bad review (let’s call it a ‘less than good’ review) at a festival if it feels warranted. That’s what I’m here for: to review. And reviews can be good or bad – it equally feels unfair to paint an entirely positive view of performances because that equally isn’t an objective review of the festival. Admittedly, I love the festival, but not every act is to my taste. How do you strike the balance?
This year, I saw an act that I had given a mediocre review of in 2023 – Dado. I tried to strike a balance by highlighting the good as well as the ‘less than good.’ Was I overly generous? Maybe. Was I too harsh? I don’t think so. But it’s a performance that highlights the difficulty in reviewing at a festival.
In 2023, his performance was laboured. The crowd weren’t fully into it, and though he managed to make light of one audience member abandoning the set partway through, it was a struggle. That may have manifested itself into the show’s disappointing ending as the jokes began to tire, but on the whole, I wasn’t sold. One specific joke sealed the deal.
This year, Dado’s set was entirely different. Dado was full of energy, the crowd was full of energy, and the two fed off each other. The jokes zinged, and the physical comedy was incredible. Dado expertly ad-libbed as one over-zealous audience member became a little more involved in the proceedings than Dado would have liked, but he capitalised on it. What is most striking is that this was the same show. The same set-up, the same jokes, the same physical comedy, the same bits. Five stars from me… if I were giving star ratings.
So, mea culpa, Dado – you’re great. But reviewing is a tough job to balance, and I think I’m doing alright. Better than ‘less than good,’ anyway.
