THERE had been a great number of high quality contemporary plays performed throughout 2009, some old ones and new ones, a sure sign of creative balance as well as growth in the performing arts of the country.

Most of the plays primarily came about through and were produced as part of the bi-annual Theatre Zone competition of the National Theatre of Namibia (NTN) and the third annual Theatre Festival of Committed Artists of Namibia (CAN) at the Ultimate Theatre in the western suburbs.

However, the quality of play reviewing styles and methods by most local newspapers still remains incomprehensible by universal standards and a great source of concern for theatre development in my opinion. Fact of the matter is, most reviewers still regurgitate the content of plays in their writings by quoting large parts of the written texts instead of concentrating and focusing on the performing abilities of actors (ensemble and or individual), the directing of works, the décor, technical presentations, character interpretation, all forming the basis for proper play analysis and acceptable norms in the rest of the theatre world, but here.

Why rewrite a stage script verbatim or at length quote dialogue pieces from a play, something that is not at all necessary? I want to stress this, hopefully for the last time a stage production is not a literature analysis per se. That can be left to the literature experts. I would like to think that the serious theatre enthusiast will equip him or herself with knowledge about the specific work prior to the performance by obtaining a copy of the book or the script to be acquainted with the content. This uninventive, non-creative, darn right silly and mostly unnecessary way and form of review writing shows ignorance, known as 'padding' and writing about a stage performance with little knowledge of the form of artistic expression being dealt with.

I am not saying all reviewers must now all of a sudden take up acting classes to hone and improve their individual critique writing styles and skills, but some knowledge of the creative process will come in handy and will inculcate a greater degree of understanding and appreciation for the performing arts among themselves and the general public.

Some newspapers merely abstain from writing reviews an obvious effort to stay clear of being criticized and staying on the save side in order not to antagonize and offend certain artists the have projected over the years as iconic figures to the masses. Fortunately most progressive theatre directors and playwrights by now know that once their works end up as performances in the public domain, it become public property to be scrutinized and criticized, but not vilified and ostracized. Reviewers have a moral obligation to themselves and their readers to maintain a balance in their writings, not to buy face and or unfairly favor below average productions they personally like or dislike.

Some of the culprits construe and confuse newspaper reviewing with previewing a production combined with saying something positive or negative about the quality of the work. The irony is that their newspapers happily go along with this gross misconception and silliness in the name of 'art'.

In my book there remains a large vacuum and unbelievable degree of ignorance among most reviewers or those claiming to be reviewers. Too many bias reviews, aimed at individual playwrights, directors and actors, still remain the order of the day. Some are determined either to take revenge in their writing against specific playwrights, actors and or play directors. They are out to 'get him or her' or 'massacre' a production or unfairly send certain actors, playwrights and directors directly to heaven in praise songs, for whatever personal or sinister reason without considering the obligation to themselves, their newspaper readers and theatre goers alike. Criticism needs to be balanced and not one-sided, something the majority of newspapers are guilty of.

Positive as I am about the growing performance sector in the country, it remains my sincere wish and hope that in 2010 all reviewers will show a greater degree of professionalism and understanding of and for stage works.