Another critic axed

Another critic axed

Critic David Rooney Variety, the so-called show biz bible, has jettisoned the full-time theater critic position held by David Rooney, simultaneously saying it will continue to review theater with the same frequency. (How many of us have heard that before?) Links to two commentaries: “The iceberg of serious, informed theatrical criticism lost another chunk,” says Kenneth Jones in playbill.com; “The critical bloodletting continues,” says Adam Feldman in Time Out N.Y. One of the best reads on the subject is “Eliminate theatre critics at your peril”by David Cote in The Guardian. He praises (yes, praises) critics as “the dung beetles of culture.”