Nicholas de Jongh, Michael Billington et al

Copyright Annie Mole through Creative Commons

Nicholas de Jongh is leaving the Evening Standard after 18 years as its main theatre critic. But, in the age of bloggers and online comments, who needs a professional critic anyway?

On the Guardian theatre blog Mark Brown argued that there are still a handful of critics, including the Guardian’s own Michael Billington and Benedict Nightingale of The Times who set the theatrical agenda. He concludes that de Jongh’s replacement will still wield considerable power in the theatrical community.

And, humble blogger that I am, I actually agree that professional critics are important, although I am unsure whether or not there will still be a place, and funds, for them in a decade.

After all, Time Out’s Jane Edwards took voluntary redundancy in January. She did, however, tell Press Gazette that she wanted to continue writing about theatre.

Either way, I think the role of a professional reviewer should not be undervalued. I heard Michael Billington speak at the Edinburgh Book Festival last summer and I was struck by both his encyclopedic knowledge of productions and his enthusiasm. In my opinion, the two coalesce in his reviews beautifully.

For, in my opinion, a good critic must bring context to every production he or she sees but they should also bring the hopes of audience: the desire for a production to be good, and the disappointment when it is not. It only when a critic shoulders this two-fold responsbility that he or she is worth reading.

May the job be passed on to a worthwhile candidate. Or me, whichever.

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