Watching Theatre Critically: Taking Useful Notes

Why Watching Is Not Enough

Most people leave a theatre humming the music or remembering the big emotional moments. For your live theatre review, that is not enough. The exam rewards you for being able to pinpoint specific choices — a performer's exact vocal quality at a named moment, the intensity and colour of a lighting state, the texture of a costume fabric — and then judge whether those choices successfully communicated meaning to the audience.

That level of detail requires a different kind of watching: critical spectatorship. This lesson gives you a framework for doing exactly that, both in the theatre and in the notes you write immediately afterwards.

The What / How / Why Framework

Before you enter the theatre, memorise this three-part scaffold. It structures every paragraph you will write in the exam:

• What was the choice? Name it precisely: a sharp blackout, a sudden drop in the performer's vocal pitch, a costume change carried out in view of the audience.
• How was it executed? Add technical detail: a Fresnel lantern at 20% intensity, a downward pitch shift of half an octave, a black linen coat replaced by a cream silk dress in full stage lighting.
• Why did it work (or not)? Evaluate: what did the audience feel as a result? What meaning did the director intend to communicate? Did it succeed, and why?

This scaffold applies whether you are writing about a performer, a designer or the directorial concept. The key shift is from describing to evaluating.

Taking Notes in the Theatre

You cannot write full sentences in the dark, but you can capture trigger words that unlock memory later. Keep a small notepad and pencil. During the performance, note:

• Performer moments: write the character's name, a one-word description of what the performer did, and a physical cue (e.g. “Mira — freeze — USL, turns away”). This helps you reconstruct the blocking later.
• Design moments: note colour, direction and quality of the lighting state; any abrupt sound cues; unusual set elements. Even “blue wash — cold — interval end” is useful.
• Audience reaction: if the audience gasped, laughed or fell silent at a particular moment, write it down. Audience response is evidence that a choice worked.
• Stage configuration: sketch the stage layout in the margin — whether it is theatre in the round, a proscenium arch, or a thrust stage. This affects how proxemics read for the audience.

Post-Show Notes: The Production Log

Write your production log within 24 hours of seeing the production. After that, specific sensory memories fade fast. Structure your log under four headings that match the exam’s focus:

1. Production context: title, company, venue, date, stage configuration, approximate running time.
2. Performer analysis: for each performer you plan to write about, record one vocal choice and one physical choice for a named moment, plus the effect on you as an audience member.
3. Design analysis: one lighting example with technical details; one sound example; one set or costume observation. For each, note the specific moment and the audience effect.
4. Directorial concept: in two or three sentences, state what you believe the director’s central intention was and give one piece of evidence for it.