Loach thought otherwise and sent a thundering letter to the newspaper. Of course the reason for Billington s bad review is because he auditioned for the production and failed to get into it, Loach wrote. I promise, Billington laughs, that it wasn t the reason. But even at Oxford I was having these incestuous arguments with artists, and it s gone on ever since. He won t talk to anyone about a play until he s written his review.
Criticism is about keeping other opinions at bay.
One of the often-lobbed criticisms of the critic is that the audience had a good time. It s a joke, says Billington, but it s right. It s a funny way of saying that the individual conscience is all that matters. In a debate, playwright Simon Gray put it to Billington that opening a new play is like a mother taking her new baby out in its pram for a walk in the park. People come up and prod it, say What an ugly baby, and ask why the mother didn t shape its left leg better.