Providence College Department of Theatre, Dance and Film
Junior Theatre Majors/Senior Theatre Minors
Performance Critique Guidelines

The Junior Theatre majors and the Senior Theatre minors will collaborate as a group to create and present a critique of a local theatre performance. The critique should last one hour, with 30-40 minutes of a student presentation followed by 15 minutes of faculty questions and discussion.

Critique components include:

1. Oral: The presentation should consist of an oral component to which each member of the group must contribute both content and their voice. The oral portion of the presentation should be divided up amongst the group so that the work is evenly distributed. The content of the oral portion of the presentation must be created by the group and cannot be read directly from source material. Source material may be used as long as it is properly cited, but most of the oral critique should consist of the students’ interpretation, analysis and informed opinion of the performance.
2. Audio/Visual: The presentation should be accompanied by an audio/visual component, such as a Power Point, Prezi, Google Slides or some similar format. This is a device meant to enhance the oral presentation.
3. Works Cited: The group must submit a works cited page (It may be housed in the power point.). All sources must be cited using MLA format. (Source material for historical, political or social context, plot summary, author biography, press reviews, etc.)

Elements to be covered in the critique:

1. Event details
a. Theater/Venue name, title of work, director, designers, date of attendance, etc.
2. Preparation
a. Pre-performance knowledge of the work and author.
b. Historical, political and social context of the play.
c. Important past productions/interpretations of the play/musical.
3. Description of the play/performance
a. The students should be able to describe what they saw to someone who was not at the event. Be as specific as possible about the setting, plot, design/technical elements (costumes, lighting, scenery and sound), directorial concept, actor performance choices, performance space and other elements that are appropriate to the production.
4. Analysis and Interpretation
a. Identify the style of the production (Realism, Non-Realism, Surrealism, etc.)
b. What was the production attempting to say to you as an audience member?
c. Was there a discernable theme or metaphor that the director/playwright was attempting to convey?
5. Opinion
a. How did this performance strike you personally? As a group?
b. What were some of the successful elements of the production? Why?
c. What were some of the unsuccessful elements of the production? Why?
d. How did your opinion align with or differ from reviews of the play by the press or public at large?
e. How, if at all, does this play/production speak to the world at the large, current world events, or important socio-    political issues of today?

Potential theatrical considerations for the critique:

Unconventional performance spaces, historical/period design elements, accent work, special effects, stage combat, choreography, music/score, audience participation, and any other unique and pertinent theatrical characteristics of the particular production.

Updated by E. Schmidt 4/4/2022 Printable version here.