Quote • POST-SHOW ETIQUETTE
“What should I say if they asked me what I thought of the play?”
“The truth, Dad, tell them the truth.”
“The truth? The unvarnished truth?”
“The truth – varnished, unvarnished, in whatever shape or form. As long as it’s the truth.” She paused. “But under no circumstance must you tell them you didn’t like their performance.”
“You are asking me to lie?”
“I’m asking you to show some sensitivity.”
“But I didn’t like their performance.”
“Then don’t mention their performance.”
“I can’t just not mention their performance.”
“Get in there first. Ask them what they thought of their performance.”
“And if they thought they were brilliant?”
“Tell them you absolutely adored their suits.”
“I positively hated their suits.”
[…]
“Come on, Dad! Tell them … I don’t know … tell them certain aspects of the play reminded you of a play by Harold Pinter. Then talk about Harold Pinter.”
From The Street by Biyi Bandele, which he adapted for the stage as Brixton Stories.
Originally published on R&V 19-11-06
Photo: © Josephine Rodrigues
Biyi Bandele outside the Lyric Hammersmith
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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