Andrew Eaton: The Prompt

HOW influential are Fringe reviewers? Not as much as they used to be, perhaps.

Thanks to the internet it is easier than ever for audiences to spread the word themselves. This year, when you buy a ticket from the Fringe, the festival will email you after the show with a link to its page on the Fringe website and the suggestion that you post your own review. The idea is that, over time, the website will build up a detailed picture of what audiences rate and what they don't. Who needs critics?

That said, anecdotal evidence suggests that this newspaper and its sister paper The Scotsman, in particular, can still make or break a show. I've often been told that a four star Scotsman review has doubled box office takings overnight, and that a one star review has had the opposite effect.

I can believe this. In August, there is so much to cover that reviews of a particular Fringe show often appear days or even weeks apart, while audiences are so overwhelmed by choice that a four star review in a prominent place is far more persuasive than it would ordinarily be. And our festival coverage is more prominent than anyone's.

Professionally it's in my interest that the newspapers I work for continue to have that power. I should also point out that our critics have many years of knowledge and experience - far more so than those of some other local publications - so yes, you should take what we say seriously.

On the other hand, I have always felt ambivalent about the influence reviews have during the festival, particularly the oppressive power of star ratings. I've been told it's better to get a one star review than three stars, because at least people go out of morbid curiosity. In the blur of August, a three star review renders you invisible.

And yet… a four star review can kill a show too. A theatre friend with a background in live art once told me that the Scotsman's four star review, mid-way through his Fringe run, was disastrous. For the first week he had steadily built up a small audience who, appreciating what he was doing, spread the word among like-minded friends. After the review, his audience was much bigger but consisted of people who were counting stars, had no understanding of the kind of work he was doing, hated it, and told everyone they knew it was pretentious and crap. The moral is obvious. Make up your own mind, and make the time to do it properly.

• This article was first published in Scotland on Sunday, August 15, 2010