Tips for writing reviews

Here are some guidelines to follow when writing a review for the Iowa City Theatre Blog.

1) Research the play ahead of time. You don’t necessarily have to have read the play, but googling the play ahead of time to get some background will help you write a better review. For example, if the show is set in the middle of the 1992 Los Angeles race riots, you better know who Rodney King is.

2) Specificity. This cannot be stressed enough. It’s not enough to say “John Bo did a great job as Willy Loman.” You need to write “John Bo did a great job as Willy Loman because he used his always moving hands to convey the panic and desperation of the character.”

3) Only use as much description of the story as absolutely necessary to provide context for your review. A review should not rehash the plot, but rather review the work of the various artists. We don’t want to spoil the story for the audience, but rather offer an informed opinion about the production.

4) Talk about as many aspects of the production as possible. Everyone writes about the actors, but what decisions did the director make which made the show what it was? How was the lighting used to convey the message of the play? Was sound used to tell the audience a particular scene was set in the jungle?

5) Be critical, but be kind. The Iowa City Theatre Blog will never publish a review that states, “This is the worst production ever!” We will publish a review that backs up its criticism with specific examples. For instance, “The show was somewhat ineffective because half of the actors were playing their characters as farcical and the other half were playing them straight. There seemed to be two separate plays happening at the same time.”

6) Specificity. Didn’t I mention that this cannot be stressed enough? It’s not enough to write “I loved the lighting.” You need to write “The subdued lighting at the end of the first act wonderfully enhanced the depression the characters were experiencing.”