I agree with Scott B. in that if a critic is truly to be independent, (s)he should buy a ticket like everybody else.  (S)he is being paid to be there by the employer.  That should be enough.

Unfortunately, the 'other side of the coin' is some critics haven't got a clue how to be critics.  They impose THEIR personal notions of intent and style on a show and if it doesn't conform to their 'standards,' it is judged inferior.  Unfair and wrong-headed, to the Nth degree, but they have the microphone/newspaper article.  These same critics might also be so full of themselves that they think they deserve 'special attention.'  You won't get an impartial, or even a worthwhile review from these people, no matter what they report.

 

The best critic you can have is one neighbor talking to another.  If a show is good, word of mouth gets butts in the seats far better than any critic can.  I personally NEVER give a critic any value, be it good review or bad.  It's just one person's opinion, and usually an untrained opinion at that.

 

As someone who volunteers with an all-volunteer performing arts magazine, not every critic is being paid. And as someone who was given a fellowship to the 2010 NEA Arts Journalism Institute in Theater and Musical Theater, our group has recently had a discussion as the fact that two tickets per reviewer (critic plus one) are standard across most metropolitan areas. (Although some papers do have a standard policy where they don't accept free tickets.)

 

It's no less likely to make them independent than the sports reporters getting free tickets to the baseball game (and in their case, they even get the media booth to boot) are more likely to ignore bad PR about the team. With arts coverage as rare as it is today, any publicity is good. If there's a theatre that pulls tickets because of a bad review, that just looks bad on them.

 

As for the goodie bag, the critic may have to decline it for policy purposes - especially the free coupon. I know some theatres provide me with a media kit, which gives me some additional information about the show - and that sometimes is helpful, especially if I didn't have time to do research on the show beforehand. I'd recommend that, instead. Include a season brochure and/or information about your upcoming show, information from the director as to why he or she is directing this play, etc.