Theater Union Will Learn to Tell Good from Bad for 227 Thousand

The Latvian Theater Workers Union has received a state contract worth 227,730 euros to conduct professional evaluation of new theater productions. It's like paying someone to tell you whether a show is good or bad. In Riga, of course, they pay six-figure sums for this, but in Liepāja such work is done by every other audience member already during the first act.

The Union has committed to increasing public understanding of theater achievements and organizing the awards ceremony 'Night of the Players.' 'I've been saying for years that our theater needs better quality evaluation,' comments a local culture enthusiast. 'But for that kind of money we could build a new theater next to Liepāja University, where students could learn not just in theory, but also in practice.'

It turns out that quality evaluation is a complex process that requires a professional approach and, of course, appropriate funding. While Riga's theater experts learn to tell good from bad with state money, our Liepāja theater will continue creating shows, relying on the same method that's worked for years — if the audience doesn't applaud, it means it was boring.

Maybe after this evaluation project we'll learn something revolutionarily new, for example, that a good show is one where people don't fall asleep. But for 227 thousand, I hope they'll tell us something more.