The Telegraph just gutted its culture desk. What happens to theatre when the critics vanish?

Reports this week say the Telegraph cut around 100 jobs, including most of its culture editors, and is pivoting to hard news and politics. The UK regulars are already bracing for its theatre coverage to shrink or disappear, with Dominic Cavendish's future the obvious worry.

We've watched this movie in the US for twenty years, even if I can credit this board for inspiring me to see things more over the years than most critics.

TheOtherOne2 said: "The internet, chat rooms and social media has given the world of theatre a kind of advertising it has never had before. Newspapers don't want to pay for what they can't compete with."

Internet, chat rooms and social media are not competition to legitimate theater critics. Certainly this Board should serve as proof of that.

Although, yes - the word of mouth they generate is a form of advertising, most people still look to theater critics as a yardstick to frame the opinions they then post on the internet, in chat rooms and on social media. Theater critics are a necessary part of a show's success or failure.

And... Critics' opinions aren't advertising - they're critics' opinions. Those opinions only become integrated with advertising when a show chooses to pay for an advertisement that includes a quote from the critic.

Updated On: 10/31/26 at 09:33 PM