The Critic As Cretin?

By Sanjana Hattotuwa -

Sanjana Hattotuwa

Write, and be damned, ridiculed, assaulted and even permanently silenced. Critics in Sri Lanka generally have a raw deal, especially when the arc of their writing illumines inconvenient truths of governance, and violence in government. Remarkably, some of us discovered last week that critics of other traditions invite a disturbingly similar response.

I had just finished reading Irving Wardle’s compelling memoir of reviewing theatre in England for 40 years, published in the Economist’sIntelligent Life, when I was forwarded an email concerning a discussion thread on the official Facebook group of Colombo’s best known and oldest theatre groups. The discussion was about a review of a production staged by them at the Wendt around two months ago. I don’t intend in this column to use names to shame – danno danithi. The initial post and subsequent comments quickly became such an embarrassment for the theatre company, they decided to close the entire Facebook group. I also understand that a letter from the group was sent to the critic apologising for the particularly vulgar expression used. However, the episode raises interesting questions over criticism and its reception in Sri Lanka today.    Read More