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For most of the past 36 years, the whole world has been Chris Roman’s stage.
The Advocate’s longtime theater critic has had a front-end view of thousands of plays in the Valley. With this place, he has drawn his perspective on performances, reviewed poignant productions and highlighted the highs, lows and all with the opening and closing of countless curtains.
And just as all the players exit and enter, Roman, who entered the scene at this publication in May 1986, relinquishes his writing duties and exits stage left.
“Going to theater in the valley and regionally, I’ve covered the Berkshires for a long time and Hartford Stage and TheatreWorks in Hartford and up at the Vermont Sandglass Theater in Putney, and it’s been such a joy and a privilege to be able to watch what I want and cover as much as I can.” ” said Roman, 80. “I think I’ve written about 2,000 pieces for the Advocate and maybe rewatched half of them, so many plays … And I think it’s time to stop.”
Growing up in a small town in Ohio, Roman immersed himself in theater early with a very active community theater and college theater program. He originally had dreams of appearing on stage as an actor, but gave up on that idea when he got to college and began spending time with a number of professional actors who were barely making it in the industry.
Instead, he pursued music, becoming a singer-songwriter in the 1970s, spending some time in England. And while the rhythms and harmonies of this industry led Roman to record several albums, in the end his heart still beat strongest through the fourth wall of the theater.
When he arrived in the Valley, he remembered a particularly powerful scene about theater.
“I suggested to the Advocate that I could write about theater for them, and the rest is history,” he said.
Words, words, words
When Roman first began his tenure at the Advocate, he wrote his pieces by hand. Early on, he brought his work to what was then Hatfield’s offices in a former mill building for then-editor Kitty Axelson.
Once there, he described how he entered his work into an early Macintosh computer and saved it to a floppy disk so he could take it to the other end of the building to be “mown down,” he said.
These days, an email with an attachment of his work to the editor is part of the typical procedure. Roman also mentioned that he and the current editor of the Advocate have never met in person.
“A lot of things have changed,” he said.
Despite the changing faces, places and ways of communication, the theater continues to bring a lot of joy to Roman.
“I still get a slight thrill of anticipation and anticipation every time I walk into the theater and sit down to prepare to see a performance,” he said. “I’ve seen some unfortunates, but I’m always hopeful. And I’ve seen a lot of just wonderful theater. The Valley in particular is so full of experimental theater people, people trying new things, people who enjoy unusual places and make places work for them.”
Both sides of the headlights
When your job is to weigh in on the world being created, being a critic can be a lonely pursuit.
“I sit alone or with my partner in the theater and take notes. Then I go home, open my laptop and write the review myself,” he said.
As for the shows he likes, Roman said he gets most excited about plays that directly interact with the audience, like Shakespeare’s. Roman especially appreciates those who are able to convey the sense that “we’re all in the same room together,” he said.
But as someone who has directed theater companies, some of which he has reviewed in the past, he tries to be fair and tell the truth as he sees it. Above all, he likes not to be unpleasant.
“I don’t like critics who score points on the production to look smart or clever. I know how much blood, sweat and literally tears go into the production of any theater production,” he said. “So I don’t want to just say, ‘Well, that was stupid. If I’m going to say it was stupid in a non-nasty way, but in a softer way, I feel it’s my duty to explain why.
It also uses a gradient curve. For larger production companies with full-time professional actors, for example, if the end of a performance doesn’t work, he tends to be more upfront about his opinion than for a smaller production featuring performers who have full-time jobs. work day and do the best they can with what little they have.
“I want to judge a theater based on what it’s trying to achieve and what resources it has to achieve it,” he said.
As you Like It
Whether a performance received a thumbs up, a thumbs down, or something in between, theaters across the region have learned that when they invite a critic, they invite a critic. Although he wasn’t looking for praise, Roman said he got a lot of free feedback for his coverage.
Cheryl Stoodley of Serious Play Theater Ensemble & Training said his articles were very helpful to their festival and venue hosts and introduced them to the topics of production, soundscape, movement and stage design.
“Chris has always been an enthusiastic supporter of Valley theaters of all kinds (not just Serious Play’s fictional, deconstructed and new plays), and with his personal interviews, rehearsal visits, and subsequent Advocate articles, he has grown the audience for each production , which reflected,” she said in a statement. “He invested in and knew many of our actors personally and watched many of them develop their own careers in theater and performance.”
Stephanie Carlson, the actor Roman directed and reviewed, said she always had a lot of respect for his reviews and described them as “insightful and accessible.” With a focus on the positives, his criticisms are well thought out, she said.
“Chris has done a tremendous amount to promote local theater and attends almost everything that is performed here in the Valley,” she said. “It’s a pleasure to count him as a friend and I applaud his decades of dedication to the craft.”
Actress Jarris Hanson, who Roman also directed and reviewed, said his work brought him great respect at the Advocate and at WFCR, where he was an on-air critic.
Hanson said she began reading Roman’s reviews in the early 1990s. While covering the area’s theater scene, Hanson eventually met Roman in person, and he eventually asked her to be in a production he was directing.
“I learned about his own unique vision as a director and his tendency to choose challenging but often very funny plays,” she said. “So somehow, over the years and the arts community in the Valley, we became good friends. I think that’s one of the wonderful things about Chris – as a reviewer he knew the people and philosophies behind a number of theatres. He understood their audience and went into every review with an open mind and a sense of fairness and objectivity,” she continued. “But at the same time, his honesty and integrity as a person has always allowed him to do the job with the depth and knowledge of the art and craft of performance that makes him one of the best reviewers around.”
Linda McInerney, artistic director of Greenfield-based Eggtooth Productions, praised Roman’s attention to the region’s vibrant theater scene.
McInerney, who met Roman 25 years ago when he came to review her work for Old Deerfield Productions, describes a critic for The Advocate as a theater outsider and insider. As a performer and director himself, it allowed him to stand in the art while observing it from the outside, an invaluable perspective, she said.
“He has generously supported our community of theater makers by shining a light on the work and its context, while at the same time being an important educator and promoter of that work, attracting an audience that trusts him,” she said. “There is no other like him in the Valley and he should be praised and thanked for his important legacy.”
The be-all and end-all
Roman may leave his pen for the Advocate, but he has no intention of leaving the world of theater. He plans to take part in more performances – just without a notebook on his knee.
In the past, he saw up to 150 shows each year. Of course, he said, if it weren’t for his work with the Advocate, he wouldn’t be able to afford to see all these performances.
“I look forward to sitting in the theater without thinking about how I’m going to reflect what I’m seeing or what I’m going to say as it goes on,” he said. “I like to sit back with the hopeful expectation of seeing something great.”
Roman, who has two published books to his name, hopes to add another book to his staff. He is also working on a music project and hopes to record some songs he has written.
“I’m still not standing up. I just put my pen down,” he said. “I hope the Advocate will still have theatrical coverage because I hope what I did made a difference and it will continue.”
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