how we work

Sydney Dramaturgical is an independent theatre publication. We commission working critics to review live performance in Sydney, New York, and Montréal, and we publish those reviews at sydneydramaturgical.com.

This page explains how our reviews are funded, who writes them, and what makes them trustworthy regardless of who paid.

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How reviews are funded

Reviews are funded two ways.

Editorial reviews are commissioned by Sydney Dramaturgical from our own budget.
We choose the show, we assign the writer, we pay the writer, we publish.

Commissioned reviews are paid for by a third party — a theatre company, a producer, a supporter, anyone — who pays a $100 commission fee for a review of a specific production.
The full commission fee goes to the writer. We handle editing, publication, and social distribution at no additional cost.

Both streams of reviews are edited the same way, published the same way, and treated the same way. Neither is marked on the site. A reader cannot tell whether the review they are reading was funded editorially or by commission, because once a review is assigned, there is no difference.

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The honesty firewall

Writers are not told if a review is funded from our own budget or commissioned.

When we brief a writer on a show, the brief includes the title, venue, performance date, and any content warnings.
It does not disclose funding source, commissioner identity, or expectations. This double-blind protects writer independence and reader trust, and it is non-negotiable.

What the writer thinks of the show is what publishes.

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Why the commissioning model exists

Our editorial budget is finite. We commission the work we can afford to commission, and there are always shows we would want to cover but can't.

We applied for a Creative Australia grant but didn't get it, so here we are.

The commissioning fee is what makes paid theatre criticism possible for us in the meantime, and 100% of it goes to the writer. Sydney Dramaturgical earns nothing directly from a commission — the editing, publication, and cross-channel distribution work is our contribution to keeping paid theatre criticism public.

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Who writes the reviews

We work with two pools of writers.

Working critics are paid $100 per review, in the writer's local currency (AUD for NSW, USD for New York, CAD for Quebec). They cover both editorial and commissioned assignments. These are writers we have paid to write for us before, with published critical work at Sydney Dramaturgical or elsewhere. Every commissioned review is written by a working critic.

Emerging writers are paid $50 per review, in the writer's local currency, from a ringfenced editorial budget. They cover editorial reviews only, never commissions — not because they aren't good writers, but because the development program is incompatible with the timeline of commissions.

The emerging tier is a paid path into critical writing for early-career voices: a real byline in a real publication, with editorial support, multiple drafts, and real money. Emerging writers typically move into the working critic tier after three published pieces.

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What commissioners get, and don't get

Anyone can commission a review. You do not need to be affiliated with the production. Producers can commission reviews of their own shows. Supporters commission reviews of work they want covered. Friends commission as a form of professional gift. The commissioner's identity is never disclosed to the writer or the reader.

What a commission gets you:

• An honest review, written by an assigned working critic
• A first draft filed within fourteen days of the performance, edited and published shortly after
• Cross-posting to Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and X with your production stills
• Permanent archiving and search indexing
• Refund if we cannot assign a writer to your requested performance dates

Commissioned reviews are currently available for productions in Sydney (anywhere in NSW) and Montréal (anywhere in Quebec). Coverage of shows outside those regions is at editorial discretion.

What a commission does not get you:

• Choice of writer
• Preview access before publication
• Editing input or veto power
• Guarantee of positive coverage — or negative coverage
• Disclosure of your identity to the writer or the reader

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Editorial process

Every review goes through the same editorial process regardless of funding source.

The writer files a draft within fourteen days of the performance. The editor reviews for clarity, length, and house style. Substantive concerns are raised with the writer before publication and worked through together. Writers are encouraged to push back on edits they disagree with. The editor has final say.

Our subjects are independent artists working with little resource and less coverage. Sydney Dramaturgical exists to support that ecology, not to tear it down.

Reviews are honest — we do not manufacture praise, and we do not water down critical judgments a writer stands behind. But the editor may adjust framing, tone, or language to keep a piece in the spirit of engaged, considered support for the work of independent theatre. A critical review is still a critical review; it is not a takedown.

Drafts are never shared with commissioners, producers, publicists, or anyone outside the editorial team before publication.

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Disclaimers

We reserve the right to add a disclaimer to any review, at any point, stating that the views expressed are the writer's own and not representative of Sydney Dramaturgical. Sydney Dramaturgical values writing that risks something. The disclaimer exists so that a piece we are proud to publish is not read as an institutional position.

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Corrections

We correct factual errors. If you spot one in a published review, email editorial@sydneydramaturgical.com. We'll investigate, and if a correction is warranted, we'll publish it with a dated note attached to the piece.

We don't take reviews down. We don't remove negative characterisations because the subject didn't like them. What we publish stays published. The permanence of the archive is what makes the writing useful — to artists, programmers, grant panels, readers — years after a season closes. That doesn't work if reviews come off the moment someone dislikes their notice.

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Complaints

If you have a concern about a review beyond a factual error — the conduct of a writer during the review process, an editorial decision, a question about our model — contact editorial@sydneydramaturgical.com. We read every complaint. Disagreeing with the verdict isn't grounds for a rewrite.

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Contact

Editorial: editorial@sydneydramaturgical.com
Commission a review: sydneydramaturgical.com/commission

— End of editorial independence policy —

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