You Know What Theatre Criticism Needs? More Hatchet Jobs, Like In The Old Days

Matt Trueman: “The sad truth is that a proper old-fashioned panning is good for a critic – and, by extension, good for criticism. … Hard hits get hits [i.e. page views]. It’s the critical equivalent of slowing down at a crash site. Because a great critic going full-pelt, venting his or her vitriol on to the page, is a thing of real beauty. Dark, splenetic, grisly beauty, but beauty nonetheless.” (He thinks hatchet jobs are good for theatre, too.)