HAPPY NEW YEAR to
all Critical
Stages/Scènes critiques (CS/Sc) readers from all
over the world. Our journal is ten years old and we have good reason to
celebrate. Not only have we survived, we have also managed to increase the
numbers and the global reach of our readership, which now covers 200 countries.
766 original
contributions by 400 writers from 69 countries have helped CS/Sc to become one of the leading global theatre journals, providing vital space for widening critical
debate in old, as well as new and emerging subjects in the area of theatre and
the performing arts.
Building on the success of the last decade, we
hope and intend to continue Critical Stages/Scènes critiques as a bilingual, Open Access and global theatre journal.
Indeed, in the decade ahead, we hope to extend the reach of CS/Sc even further.
We live in difficult times. The world is changing, ethics and
habits are altering rapidly. In such times, theatre must be ready to dislodge
itself, and the gaze of its audience, in order to embrace the new social
plurality and, thus, create “critical space” in which everyone engaged in the live
dramatic arts, from audiences to practitioners,
researchers, scholars and, of course, critics, can develop and thrive.
This double issue of CS/Sc is an
attempt to put such thinking into practice.
For the New Year we have given the journal a new look. We hope it
offers a more colourful and user friendly presentation to its 39 cutting-edge and
challenging contributions, by 41 authors from 21 countries, ranging from
Argentina to England, Japan, Spain,
Martinique, Serbia, Greece, South Korea, France and Cyprus.
The first special
topic is Ageism and/in Theatre edited by Manabu Noda and Yun Cheol Kim.
We chose this particular field of research and reflection because it carries a
paradox within it: namely, that ageism is a prejudice perpetuated by a lack of
awareness that it even exists. Although we are very sensitive towards all kinds
of prejudices ranging from sexism to racism, we seem to bypass a fact of life
which, if we all live long enough, we will experience: the negative
stereotypes, associations and discriminatory traits related to or often directed
against older people by individuals and institutions. This is a relatively new field of study, which makes our engagement with it even
more exciting. The articles chosen for publication by our two guest editors (both
of whom are university professors) are evidence of that.
The
second special topic, Multilingual Performance and Migration,
is a reflection on another subject that has been making headlines in the last
few years: namely, mass migration. It is the first time since WWII that so many
people are in search of a new homeland, and that explains the growing interest not
only of sociologists, politicians, geographers and ethnologists, but also of
theatre artists.
In
2018 the journal Modern Drama presented
the first part of a research project on contemporary
theatre and multilingualism (Migration
and Multilingualism) sponsored by the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy at
Ghent University. The following year Routledge published the second part of
this project Dramaturgy of Migration: Staging Multilingual Encounters in
Contemporary Theatre and now comes Critical Stages/Scènes critique to contribute to
the enrichment of international scholarship with seven articles which, in the
words of the editor Yana Meerzon, “are the further proof of the importance and richness
of this field, as we continue studying dramaturgical, political, artistic,
ethical and economic challenges of doing experimental work in multilingual
theatre today.”
As for the other articles in this double edition of CS/Sc. There are many things to read and
think about. The National Reports Section carries five very revealing reports
on the theatre life in contemporary Scotland, Italy, Malta, Georgia, and
Germany. There are two very beautiful and rich interviews
from Portugal and the US, as well as interviews
with two of the most important British critics of the second half of the 20th
century (Michael Billington and Ian Herbert); a brief essay by Don Rubin and
Robin Breon on criticism and festivals’ policy, and nine performance and four book
reviews (selected and meticulously edited by Matti Linnavuori and Don Rubin
respectively). We hope and believe this
array of articles will provide enough stimuli for readers’ critical reflection.
For all this and much more I would like to thank Don Rubin
(managing editor) and Jeffrey Eric Jenkins (executive editor) for their generous
support, the journal’s team, the language and section editors, the authors who help
maintain the quality of the journal by entrusting us with their fresh and
cutting-edge articles and, last but not least, the thousands of our readers who
visit our site and help spread its contents and influence.
CS/Sc aims to be a dynamic, forward looking journal. Needless to
say, therefore. we are already preparing our next issue on the Theatricality of Music, the Musicality of
Theatre (due June 2020. Guest editor: Octavian Saiu).
Our doors are open to all. Join us, to continue producing new
ideas for the next generation.
NOTE: my introduction as Editor-in-Chief to Critical Stages/Scènes critiques #20 (2019), the journal of the International Association of Theatre Critics
