Mass layoffs at The Washington Post, reported to affect about 30% of its workforce, have drawn the outlet's continuing arts coverage into question, with chief theatre critic Naveen Kumar let go, Kumar tells Playbill. Requests for comment sent to the Post have not yet been returned.

The move ends what turned out to be a short tenure for Kumar, who was appointed to the role in 2024 following the departure of predecessor Peter Marks. With Kumar having been a recent hire, it seems unlikely that the paper intends to replace him with another full-time staffer. Kumar tells us he understands he has been laid off alongside several of the paper's other arts editors, leaving questions about what, if any, arts coverage can be expected in the outlet's pages going forward. It has been reported that the layoffs will be accompanied with a refocusing of its coverage on national news, politics, business, and health, which may indicate that the paper will no longer cover at least D.C.-area arts. Kumar had regularly contributed reviews of productions outside of D.C., notably including Broadway.

The news is another blow to a D.C. arts scene already in turmoil thanks to the actions of President Donald Trump, whose unprecedented control over the multi-venue Kennedy Center has led to declining sales and numerous cancellations from artists unwilling to perform at the newly politically charged venue. Most troubling is the recent announcement that Trump would shut down the Center for two years to facilitate extensive renovations on the building, which Trump has claimed is infested with rats and in poor shape, with no evidence of said issues.

The paper is also closing its sports and books sections, and shutting down its Post Reports news podcast. International coverage is also being pulled back, with reporters and editors in the Middle East, India, and Australia reportedly also among the casualties.

The move is the latest in a rapidly changing landscape for arts coverage in news media worldwide. The New York Times, considered by many among the most powerful voices affecting the NYC arts scene, is also reconfiguring much of its arts coverage, a project which included the re-assignment of former chief theatre critic Jesse Green. Helen Shaw was named Green's successor late last year, but it remains unclear how the paper plans to make Shaw's tenure distinct from Green's.