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18-492: Ridiculusmus is a British theatre company founded in 1992 by Angus Barr, Jon Haynes and David Woods. Their work has been described as "seriously funny," "Dadaist" and "physical theatre." Theatre critic Ian Shuttleworth said that Ridiculusmus is "not so much rough theatre as completely dishevelled." Since 1996, the company has been led by Haynes and Woods as co-directors, and although the majority of their stage works in recent years have been two-handers , they additionally work with

36-499: A contribution to the book Reading the Vampire Slayer: An Unofficial Critical Companion to Buffy and Angel (Tauris Parke, 2001). He was profiled in one of the four episodes of the 1998 documentary television series about critics, Critical Condition by Jon Ronson . Theatre critic Theatre criticism is distinct from drama criticism, as the latter is a division of literary criticism whereas

54-410: A different character from that of a theatre performance. There is a distinctive dissimilarity between theatre criticism and a theatre review. Both of them deal with the dramatic arts as they are performed. But they are done in different ways and for different purposes. Both have strong rationalities to support the observations expressed, both are analytical, and both deal with the commendable as well as

72-509: A large pool of collaborators. Their first few productions were adaptations of novels, but, apart from a two-man version of The Importance of Being Earnest , produced in 2005, since 1997 Haynes and Woods have devised and written all Ridiculusmus' plays. Some of these have been published by Oberon Books and commissioned by the Barbican , London. The founding members met as students at London's Poor School and while there they began busking on

90-662: Is a retired Northern Irish theatre critic and author. He was one of the senior theatre critics for the Financial Times May 2007- March 2019, and editor and publisher of Theatre Record magazine from 2004 until 2016. In March 2019 he left the UK for Germany. Educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institutionwith a master's degree in English literature from Queens' College, Cambridge , he wrote reviews for

108-514: The Financial Times , and occasionally The Sunday Times , The Guardian , London Evening Standard , The Observer , The Independent , Daily Mail , The Sun , The Scotsman , The Stage , Stagebill , Plays & Players , Screen International , Broadcast , OK! , and City Life . His 1994 book Ken & Em (Headline Books, 1994), is an unauthorised biography of Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson . He also made

126-675: The London underground and doing comedy club open spots. They called themselves Mel, Pat & Harm, and performed comic songs from the 1920s and 1930s to the accompaniment of Barr's ukulele. They also opened a Dadaist comedy club called The Tomato Club above a couscous restaurant in Kentish Town . The highlight of the evening was the "tomato spot," in which comics were invited to perform deliberately bad material to an audience armed with over-ripe tomatoes. The listing in Time Out said "Don't come," to which

144-788: The National Lottery through Arts Council England ; the Wellcome Trust ; Royal Victoria Hall Foundatio n; the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts ; Victorian College of the Arts , Melbourne University and the City of Melbourne through Arts House and its Culture Lab programme. Ian Shuttleworth Terence Ian Shuttleworth (born 6 July 1963 in Belfast , UK)

162-676: The adaptation of novels and began writing and producing their own work. The development season in the Sister Mary room at the playhouse in Derry resulted in three self-authored pieces, School , The Exhibitionists and Christmas. The Exhibitionists went on to tour nationally and internationally over the next six years. In 1999 Woods and Haynes coined the acrostic mnemonic ARSEFLOP to articulate their working principles: Attitude, Reality, Sensitivity, Edge, Focus, Listen, Open Your Heart and Play. Ridiculusmus has created seven more main stage works in

180-401: The blemishes of the production. A theatre review is a short essay for the ordinary uninitiated readers who get to know about the play being performed, about the group staging the play, and its director and other actors. Basically a review is a subjective discourse hinting on the cultural and artistic significance of the production. The storyline is discussed as it is believed to be the mainstay of

198-411: The former is a critique of the theatrical performance. Dramas or plays as long as they stay in the print form remain a part of literature. They become a part of the performing arts as soon as the written words of the drama are transformed into performance on the stage or any arena suitable for viewers to see. So the literary craft gives birth to a stage production. Likewise a criticism of a written play has

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216-537: The last 15 years: Say Nothing ; Ideas Men ; Tough Time, Nice Time ; Total Football ; The World Mouse Plague ; The Eradication of Schizophrenia in Western Lapland and Give Me Your Love . The group, who had been project grant recipients, were up until the end of March 2015 a National portfolio organisation of the Arts Council of England. They have received project funding from many prestigious sources such as

234-462: The magazine added "probably advice worth taking." On graduating from The Poor School, Ridiculusmus filled a cancelled slot at London's Canal Cafe Theatre with a hastily produced adaptation of Jerome K. Jerome 's Three Men in a Boat . It played to mixed reviews and encouraged the troupe to produce more adaptations; their next production was a promenade version of Flann O'Brien 's cult classic novel The Third Policeman . Opening at Aras na Gael,

252-413: The period when the play is "on", that is, when the play is being regularly staged. This requires a speedy writing of the piece. Thus, a review lacks any deep analytical discourse or investigative studies of the different aspects. It never gives any conclusive verdict about the production, as such. Theatre criticism, on the other hand, is a deep analytical discourse of the production against the backdrop of

270-406: The production. The discussion reflects an instant reaction of viewing the performance. An overall clinical analysis of each department of the production, like that of acting, stage craft, lighting designs and its implementation, background scoring, dress and costume designing, make-up etc., and even the script that had been prepared for the staging, is made by the reviewer. A review is published during

288-409: The regular staging of the play has been suspended or stopped, or a subsequent production of a different play has been started by the group. Technicalities of the different aspects of the production are discussed in details together with exhaustive analysis of the rationalities of their execution. Criticism thus is an anatomical scrutiny of the production. The play is not discussed in detail as such, as it

306-700: The show, with free pints of The Wrastler stout given to any audience member bringing a bicycle part, became an instant small scale hit. Adding fellow Poor School graduates Kevin Henshall and Lucy Cuthbertson, the company grew to five members. Finding it difficult to survive in London, Ridiculusmus began to tour, and jumped at an offer to be in residence at The Playhouse in Derry , Northern Ireland. A trio once again—Woods and Haynes adapted another O'Brien novel, At Swim-Two-Birds , which toured widely. In 1996 Ridiculusmus broke away from

324-409: The theatre-arts as a whole. The social and political bearings that have relevance to the play are highlighted, so also the cultural import. Hence, the discussion becomes a highly theoretical objective discourse on the historical significance of the production. Criticism thus is an academic dissertation that is usually lengthy and may take a considerable time to write. The piece may be published even after

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