Female Theatre Critics in 2024

Looking at some of the reviews of The Notebook made me wonder if like the movie was considered a 'chick-flick' (maybe an outdated term?) that it also might have been better received by female critics.

Who is writing these days that I should be following?

Helen Shaw at the New Yorker, who used to be at Vulture in between Holdren's stints, is also great, but since the New Yorker publishes weekly, she doesn't publish as much.

https://www.newyorker.com/contributors/helen-shaw

Elisabeth Vincentelli is not the main NY Times theater critic, but she does review some shows for them. It was much better when she was theater critic at NY Post.

Elisabeth Vincentelli, Laura Collins-Hughes, Maya Phillips, Brittani Samuel, Aramide Tinubu, Emlyn Travis, Jan Simpson, Melissa Bernardo, and Hayley Levitt all review shows regularly. Has Marilyn Stasio retired from Variety? The last show she reviewed was DANCIN.

A number of the people above are second-string or freelance critics, so naturally they're not going to review every show.

The key to assigning critics to shows is not pre-judging the show. The mark of a successful work is that it should transcend its "target audience" and appeal to those who aren't predetermined to love it. SIX and CONSTITUTION and JAJA'S AFRICAN HAIR BRAIDING are, one could argue, even more female-centric than NOTEBOOK and they got raves from critics of all genders.

Updated On: 3/16/24 at 12:02 PM

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "The key to assigning critics to shows is not pre-judging the show. The mark of a successful work is that it should transcend its "target audience" and appeal to those who aren't predetermined to love it. SIX and CONSTITUTION and JAJA'S AFRICAN HAIR BRAIDING are, one could argue, even more female-centric than NOTEBOOK and they got raves from critics of all genders."

Unfortunately we don't live in an ideal world and bias can definitely play a role in why some critics dislike shows. I second Sara Holdren and Helen Shaw. I tried to read 3Views but I prefer timely reviews on shows I might see or have seen.

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Where-Are-All-of-the-Female-Theatre-Critics-20221111

"Men have the whole society -- our society is built as a patriarchy -- and I do believe the higher up you are on whatever power ladder, the harder it is to see," Mfoniso Udofia, who said she does not read her own reviews, stated. "It's so difficult when the whole society is built around you and your gaze to understand that the reason why you might not like something is, it is not for you."

"That kind of power is like blindness and then from that point you can't really critique," Udofia added. "You're not listening anymore, because there's the assumption that it should be made for you and it should make sense to you."