Why I (would) get paid the big buck$

A colleague of mine works as a theatre reviewer for a local newspaper. She also works as the press contact for a local theatre company. As such, she doesn't write reviews for the shows that she is publicizing, but all this year has been subcontracting me to do the reviewing for this particular company. I'm happy to do it - I get to add to my portfolio of writing, I get articles published in papers with my byline, and I get to see the theatre for free. Of course, I know most of the people who run this company on both a personal and professional level. The first two shows of their season have been great, and both got enthusiastic reviews from my digital pen. But when I saw their newest show this past Friday night, I dreaded writing the review. It wasn't going to be as glowing as previous reviews. I could see what the production was going for, but I didn't think that they did a good job with it. Granted, it's a hard play, and I didn't like the play. But the production I saw did not overcome the problems with the play. I spent most of today writing up the review, and I sent it in to my colleague for publication tomorrow. It's not that I expect any followup on it, but it's just a hard line to walk between keeping my writing work honest and wanting to say good things about my friends.