Theatre critics: there is a love-hate relationship for those who write critically about the theatre, especially these power-wielding wordsmiths who used to have a great deal of influence on what shows ran and what shows quickly closed-shop. Walter Kerr, John Simon, Frank Rich, Brooks Atkinson, and Clive Barnes were titans of a field that has been egregiously underrepresented by female writers (thankfully, that is changing as room is being made for a more diverse voices). Nowadays, enthusiastic word-of-mouth, the right star or composer, and a good advertising campaign can overcome the scathing review of a critic’s pen, so their influence doesn’t quite have the impact that it used to. That being said, the theatre critic has always been, and always will be, an essential part of the theatre scene.
