This is what theatre and dance audiences do: we sit in the dark, watching performances. And then, if it seems worth it, we think about what we’ve seen, and how it made us feel. The blog should be a conversation, so please comment on the posts and add your thoughts.
You know what I’ve always enjoyed about this writing lark? Well, yes, the cheque. But also the sense of being goaded to work out what I really think about a show or an author – what’s important to me, what’s worth sharing with an anonymous reader, what will accompany me the next time I enter a darkened auditorium. A good friend will often prompt and challenge those thoughts – but a blank page and a deadline are frequently even better, and lead to other conversations. I hope this blog will manage something similar, so please do talk back at me.
Performances take place in the here and now, but continue working after you leave the theatre. They prompt us to think about words, bodies, and how we perceive them: that’s what this blog is about. It’s written from London, so will inevitably have a British perspective (not to mention British spelling). And the name? Monkeys are admirably inquisitive. And, like critics, they’re very nearly human.