Irving Wardle, theatre critic
The positive side of the job is obviously getting to see a lot of plays and shows which I love. But the really great thing about being a theatre critic is that, as theatre is an ongoing thing, something that’s going to be repeated night after night for some time, there’s also the feeling that you may have a positive impact on the work. If the producer or the actors read what you’ve written and agree with you, they might actually change something and improve the performance. That’s not something that film or book critics can do. Some critics also like making friends with the stars and all that – but personally I don’t.
For me the worst part of the job is all the travelling. Getting there on time, parking, getting back to the office to write for a nightly deadline. That all gets really stressful. Another awful thing is that editors cut bits from your review without you knowing. You learn as a critic that if you’ve got anything worth saying, say it straight away because it might not get printed. I once wrote a review of a play by Julian Mitchell called Another Country. I didn’t like it much, but there was a new young actor who I thought was great, called Kenneth Branagh. That was in the last paragraph and it got cut, so it looked as if I’d never noticed this great new talent.
Pat Gibson, sport journalist
The plus sides – I must have seen some of the most spectacular moments in cricket and football over the past forty years. I’ve also had the opportunity to travel to places I wouldn’t have seen otherwise, like India, Australia, New Zealand, the Caribbean, South Africa, or Fiji. There are much more exciting ways to make a living and it’s great to get away from Britain as much as you can during the winter.
One of the main downsides is the unpredictability. You don’t work regular hours – you can spend a couple of days not working, but you never relax because you’re waiting for the phone to ring. And then, when a story breaks – it might be on your day off, it might be in the middle of the night, you just have to drop everything and go. And you never know what time you’re going to be home. Another thing is the constant travelling. It’s been fantastic visiting the Taj Mahal or spending Christmas Day on the beach in Australia, but it does get lonely and it can also be very monotonous. I’ve spent a large proportion of the last thirty years driving up and down the motorways of Britain, which I can assure you isn’t much fun.
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