What Makes The Ideal Critic, And Other Questions About Theater Criticism

TwitterchatoncriticismWhat would be your ideal theater critic? What makes a critic “professional” these days? What is the proper training for a critic? Should a critic write about a show if he or she is “biased” against, or ignorant of, the subject? Would a review be more useful or more offensive if reviewer said how to fix problems? Do theater critics have the same diversity problem of theater at large? What can be done about it? Is it true that all theatermakers have hostility towards critics at some point? Why?
These are among the questions asked and addressed in a Twitter chat sponsored by Howlround that I moderated, and was inspired by my article Are Theater Critics Critical? An Update
Here are some excerpts:

https://twitter.com/bzzclick/status/586229711493292032

https://twitter.com/GeorgeHunka/status/586234745983471616

https://twitter.com/jgambardello/status/586237050493521920

Author: New York Theater

Jonathan Mandell is a 3rd generation NYC journalist, who sees shows, reads plays, writes reviews and sometimes talks with people.

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