Review changes

Yet again, The Scotsman edges closer and closer to a tabloid newspaper with the announcement from the editor that the Review section is now to be condensed into two days, one on Saturday, the other on the following Monday.

“I hope you like the changes,” he says. No, I do not. He tells us what he is doing but not why he is doing it. I can only assume it is to create space for something more relevant.

In the age of seriously limited funding, reviews can be the lifeblood for a new theatre or performance company. Reviews can help sell seats and, ultimately, enable actors and performers to be paid at the end of a run.

These companies depend on reviews appearing in the hope that potential audience members read them and then go along and watch the show that night. There is no point in reading a review five days after a performance.

It also shows a commitment to the arts instead of it being relegated to two sections per week. Perhaps sports coverage should be limited to a Saturday and a Monday as well.

Please re-consider this decision, for the sake of Scottish 
actors and performers.

Graham de Banzie

Portobello

Edinburgh