It is so easy and so tempting. The first night has been savaged by a theatre critic whose pen is renowned for being mightier than the sword. Your audiences are set to dwindle and that bill board outside the theatre needs to have a selective quote to pull in the passing trade. For years, desperate impresarios have been guilty of misleading potential theatre-goers by incredibly selective quotation of choice phrases from damning reviews. But now the European Union looks set to intervene in a classic case of information failure. If misquoted reviews are shown to have had an impact on audience members’ decisions to buy tickets then theatre-owners may be open to financial penalties. The Independent had some cracking examples in their edition today:

Zipp Duchess Theatre, 2003
Extract: “Book now”
Full version (Independent on Sunday): “If schoolboy innuendo is your bag, book now.”

Sinatra London Palladium, 2006
Extract: “Energy, razzmatazz and technical wizardry”
Full version (The Observer): “For all the energy, razzmatazz and technical wizardry, the audience had been short-changed”.

Saturday Night Fever Apollo Victoria, 2004
Extract: “All-out retro-romp”
Full version (The Times): “If it’s an all-out retro-romp you want, this only fitfully delivers.”

The rest of the Independent article is here