The critic- the great arbiter of public taste- is under attack after a landmark court ruling in Australia declaring a review defamatory and allowing the reviewee to sue for damages.
The case concerns a negative review of Coco Roco, a now-defunct Sydney restaurant, written by the Sydney Morning Herald’s Mathew Evans. The owners of Coco Roco, who poured $3 million into refurbishing the restaurant, claim the bad review but them out of business.
Toronto theatre critics Richard Ouzounian and Kamal Al-Solaylee should be watching this case closely. Their relationship with the struggling theatre community has been, shall we say, fractious of late. It wouldn’t take much for a disgruntled producer to go after them for their frequently snarky and vitriolic reviews.
Critics are an often-annoying, but important part of our cultural landscape. However, irresponsible criticism (and I’m not suggesting Evans is guilty of this- I haven’t read his review) can damage individual artists and businesses. So, how do you keep critics accountable? I’m not sure litigation is the answer, particularly since lawsuits have a chilling effect on other critics. I suspect some sort of voluntary code of conducts and ethics would encourage the critical classes to keep their reviews above board.
I firmly believe that poor reviews led to the demise of the Lord of the Rings Musical. Critics were gunning for that production to fail before it even opened.
I’m not suggesting that critics should review productions favorably if they are not good, but it seems to me that perhaps critiquing the production and not maliciously pointing out the flaws might be a good start.
Critics in Toronto do nothing but complain that the theatre industry here is so weak, but then do nothing to support it and help it thrive. We have had plenty of opportunities in the last few years (LOTR, The Producers and Hairspray) to make an impact and bring some tourism back. Why were they not better supported by critics – they are the front line, in many cases, in a strong marketing campaign. I believe they are the ones failing the theatre community in Toronto.
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I believe that poor reviews will put Stephen Harper out of business when the next election is called. I hope that a number of people are now consulting their lawyers. If they happen to be lawyers themselves, then I hope they are consulting other lawyers.
Believe me, the shit is about to fly.