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Introducing MY THEATRE MENTOR: A Fresh Name, Closer Collaboration, and More Services Than Ever!

Updated: 2 days ago


After a break from public analyses, I’m thrilled to be back and am ready to dive back in with open arms! A few exciting things have evolved since my last publication, and so I wanted to take a moment to reflect on how every stage of this journey shaped the upgraded service you see today.


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“My Theatre Mentor”: An Evolution


I have always valued bespoke, deeply tailored feedback. Right from the beginning back in 2017, my performance analyses were never meant to be quick commercial reviews; they were intricate, extensive, and constructive deep-dives designed to truly serve the creatives who requested them.


When I first started this service in 2017, I had no online audience and needed a surefire name so that readers would instantly understand. So, I chose a name that was transparent as possible: “The Theatre Reviewer“. But, really, my service was far more niche than that of a reviewer…


One year in, with 200 monthly readers, I felt it was time for a clarification of the service I provided.


As my work was more aligned with a performance critic, my work spanning far beyond traditional plays to include performance art, dance, circus, and applied theatre, my title evolved, aptly, to “The Performance Critic”.


Then, in 2021, I introduced two new services: consultations and workshops, both available to clients in person across the UK and virtually internationally. I wanted to provide more than just written advice; I wanted to demonstrate my theories in practice, help clients to work on their performances in real-time, guide them through the theories I had raised in feedback, and show them how to apply them to the performances they were working on.


In 2023, I decided another change was necessary: I realised my work had shifted, expanded, into the territory of a mentor.


Another name change?! Absolutely! I felt “The Live Performance Mentor” captured my evolved service a lot more closely and with the same immediate legibility of my original title. But what really is a “live performance” mentor? It turned out that it was quite confusing to people. It was difficult to explain in one sentence how "live performance" differs from "theatre" without giving an overview of what “performance” even means… I needed better branding.


And so…what I believe is my final name change has been decided!



I feel this name perfectly captures my work with clients in consultations and workshops while also being entirely legible for outsiders. Everyone knows what "theatre" is, and everyone knows what a "mentor" is — the perfect name! And, of course, I still welcome circus, dance and contemporary performance art as warmly, openly and readily as I do traditional straight plays, musical theatre, and Shakespeare.



Private and Public Analyses


In 2021, my analysis work started to become a business. I had a steady stream of regular clients, multiple services to offer, and a schedule that filled up fast months in advance. I also had my own projects and productions for my availability to contend with. But there were still a great number of clients that valued detailed and unbiased written feedback. What's more, with the sensitive nature of my work, they preferred this feedback to be confidential.


And so the private analysis was born!


Private analyses, I found, bridged a gap: it created the space I needed to dedicate real time to each client and deliver genuinely impactful work while honouring the demand for written and confidential feedback. I wanted my service to be affordable but also sustainable, and this was considered in my pricing.


But supporting the creative community still remained a top priority.


I regularly had talented creatives asking for my work, and even though I have always aimed to make my services affordable, there were many who simply didn't have the budget for the mentorship they really needed. So, I created a dual system to ensure that no one was left out: high-impact private analyses alongside a set quota of 2–3 public analyses per month. The public versions are slightly more concise, to keep them sustainable, but they carry the exact same rigour, depth, and care, giving accessible support to creatives who need it while also showing potential clients precisely what I deliver.



Star Ratings


I did have a problem, though: the earlier analyses I had published included something I despised... Star ratings!


Star ratings are, to me, highly subjective responses and ones that ultimately mean nothing in an industry that issues 4 and 5 stars out pandemically.


Indeed, my approach is for my feedback to be as objective and as meaningful as possible: my personal emotional response to my clients' work isn't important; whether I personally enjoy their work isn't important. What's important to me — and to them — is their growth, the integrity of their work, and the quality and refinedness of their creative decisions.


But I couldn't outright refuse to include star ratings, because so many creatives want — or need — them. Indeed, it is the case that some theatres have as a condition when considering hosting performances to see star ratings along with theatre reviews.


A dilemma!


Adopting an approach I felt was closer to my beliefs but that would also benefit those who desire star ratings, in December 2022, I stopped offering star ratings by default, providing them only upon request.


But as my client base has grown, and as readers have grown to know the analysis type I offer, star ratings have become less and less essential, valued less than my detailed feedback, for which I am most appreciative.



A New Format: “Letters from a Mentor”


Even with those shifts, something still felt missing from the written analyses.


Recently, coming back to offer written public analyses and looking back over past publications, I noticed how writing under time pressure and consequent word limits had stripped away the warmth of my feedback, leaving it feeling clinical, sterile, and detached. They didn't reflect the warmth, kindness, and personal connection that defines my live consultations and workshops and that my clients know me for. At times, I even found them sounding harsh and hypercritical.


Yet, at the heart of my work is a deep sensitivity to creatives. The written feedback needs to reflect that.


So, I’m making two major changes:


  1. As expressed above, I find the rebranding to “My Theatre Mentor” a lot more personal. After all, I'm here to offer bespoke and 1:1 support to you as my client — as your mentor.

  2. Starting from July 2026, I am shifting the format of my public performance analyses to a format I am affectionately calling “Letters from a Mentor”. Moving forward, as the name suggests, these analyses will be written as personal letters addressed directly to the creative(s) who requested them. They will still offer the rich, complex, and detailed insight my clients expect — and in a way that outside readers can easily follow and appreciate — but the tone will be personal, supportive and kind, encouraging collaboration and development.


It is important that readers — but also theatre/performance venues that would host my clients' performances — understand that we are all at a different stage of our creative development and that, regardless of how later a stage this is, we can always improve.


My analyses are not intended to be denigrations or criticisms; they are personalised guidance, support, tips and tricks. However, in a world where we all compare ourselves to one another — and particularly in the dog-eat-dog theatre industry — it is important that my analyses be recognised as bespoke mentorly reports on how a performance can be improved.


By nature, they inherently enumerate a great number of aspects and areas that need refinement, and they should never be taken at face value as an extensive list of all the things “wrong” with a performance that “shows no value“ elsewhere — this is never my intention.


Letters from a Mentor is the perfect format, I think, to ensure that this is all understood — and at first glance — by anyone who reads my analyses, requesters and external readers alike.



Looking Ahead


With these changes, I feel my practice offers a complete toolkit for theatremaking creatives. Best of all, I remain deeply committed to keeping these services accessible and affordable in an industry that is all too often financially precarious.


But the journey doesn't end here! I am always seeking to refine my own service, practice and craft, and so I welcome you to continue to give your feedback: What do you think of my services? What do you think of the new Letters from a Mentor format?


There are a few ways to let me know — you're bound to see one that suits you!



Thank you for growing with me since 2017! I can’t wait to embark on this next chapter with you!

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