Section 2
Do's and Don'ts for Theatrical Reviews
These suggestions address the most common issues students must deal with when writing for this course. For more extensive information, go to the Modern Language Association web site at <http://www.mla.org/>
1. Remember the goals of criticism:
• What is the production attempting to achieve?
• How well did they achieve it?
• Was it worth the attempt?
2. Start by writing down the names of the playwright, director, actors and designers found in the play's program. Spelling counts.
• Write a paragraph about each of these artists and the choices they made for the production.
• Typical review order is: playwright, director, actors, designers
• Do not feel obliged to mention all actors or all designers.
3. The first sentence of your review should reflect your overall perception of the production. Journalists often refer to the first sentence as the "hook" which is intended to encourage your audience to read more of your review.
4.. A headline is not required for your review.
5. Reviews should be written in third person, not first person. Sentences that use "I" as the subject of the sentence should be rewritten to make the play the subject of the sentence.
6. Journalism largely relies on declarative sentences. Use the names of the playwright, director, actors and designers to begin each paragraph. "There" is not a strong subject for a sentence and should be avoided.
6. Present ideas as suggestions rather than facts. Use tentative language to suggest alternative choices for the production. Imply that you would be open to further information. Verbs such as "explore", "reexamine", or "attempt" are examples of tentative language. Modifiers such as "perhaps", "seems", "may", or "appears" also imply tentative language.
7. Avoid rhetorical questions. Your review should reflect your thoughts and opinion,and not be centered around the thoughts or expereinces of your reader.
7. Avoid generalities. Support each observation you make with examples from the play.
8. Write your own review. Do not quote or refer to other reviews that have been posted.
9. Avoid retelling the story. Assume your reader has seen the play you're discussing.
10. Each paragraph should present a single important idea.
11. Each paragraph should be separated by double-spacing.
12. Each paragraph should be properly weighted with sentences supporting your thoughts. Do not spend the majority of a paragraph discussing a detail that was only a small part of the play. If 90% of the production worked well, then 90% of your review should be positive. Usually, minor things are mentioned early in the paragraph, then set aside for the most important ideas you want to share.
13. Avoid informal comments. Do not address the reader as "you".
14. Titles of plays are underlined or italicized. To get a piece of text to appear in italics on the blog, precede the text with <em>. Immediately after the text you want in italics, insert the code </em>.
15. Write in the past tense. Consider the performance over.
16. Economize. Notice verbs that have been buried and rewrite sentences using action verbs instead. Usually when there is a verb of being (was, were, did), the sentence can be rewritten with fewer words and with more dynamic verbs. Sentences that begin with "There" or "This" should be rewritten using fewer words. Check to see if the word "that" can be cut from the sentence without changing its meaning.
17. Avoid using cliches, such as "did a good job" or "on the edge of our seats.".
18. Refrain from calling something or someone perfect. Rarely is anything in art perfect. Ideal? Perhaps. Excellent? Perhaps. Perfect. Probably not. It may be that you can't imagine it being any better, but that doesn't mean it's perfect.
19. Avoid unnecessary transitions. "Therefore", "However", "First off" etc. need to be used sparingly, if at all.
20. After you have mentioned a person's name, later references should mention their last name only.
21. The word "actor" is gender neutral. It's used to refer to both male and female performers. The word "actress" is rarely used.
22. Avoid summarizing your review with "Number of Stars" or "Thumbs Up/Down", which does not provide any indication that you're offering thoughtful consideration to the play.
23. Avoid summarizing with a simple recommendation as to whether you recommend the reader attend the production or not. Allow your readers to draw their own conclusions.
24. "Preform" and "perform" are two different words.
25. "Definitely" and "defiantly" are two different words.
26. Avoid referencing the audience. Review the performance, not the audience's reaction.
27. Profundity = time. To be profound, you must give yourself time to rewrite your review. Plan on writing at least two drafts of your review.
28. Procrastination is natural, but it leads to desperation, not inspiration. Rewriting a draft is the best way to write what you're thinking in the most eloquent way possible. Don't wait until the deadline to write your review. After writing a draft, give it a day or so before you revisit the review for editorial considerations.
