Savas Patsalidis*

In this second issue of 2017 (#16) the guest editor of the section “Special Topics,” Prof. Johannes Birringer, has put together a magnificent collection of essays on “Sound/Theatre: Sound in Performance,” which encompasses, in his own words, “a broad range of interdisciplinary perspectives drawn from compositional processes and production aesthetics, as well as from investigations into the perception of the interplay of analogue/digital, instrumental/vocal, musical or noise-sound, and various manifestations of sound design and sonic scenographies.” Twelve connoisseurs, practitioners and critics (in the fields of culture, theatre and performance) share their expertise, thereby helping to transform an insufficiently researched field of theatre practice into an exciting learning pool. The essays are, we believe, a substantial contribution to international theatre and performance scholarship. I cannot thank Johannes and his collaborators enough. They did a truly amazing job. I am grateful to have had the chance to work with this group of committed professionals.

Driven by our mission to support a rigorous cross-national and cross-cultural dialogue, I am pleased to announce the launch of a new section of our journal. Entitled “National Reports”, its aim is to cover contemporary theatre life in various countries around the globe. In its first edition we publish eight reports from Europe, North and South America and Asia. It is our hope to be able to cover all continents and as many countries as possible in the coming issues. In addition to that, the reader of CS #16 is offered an array of performance and book reviews, essays and interviews which cover a wide spectrum of topics, aesthetics, concerns and locales.

Once again, I would like to thank the other two members of the editorial team, professors Jeffrey Eric Jenkins and Don Rubin, all section editors, language readers, the webmaster and my assistant for all the hard work they have done to make this very rich and varied issue come to life. Thanks to them and to all Board members and contributors the growth in the readership of our journal continues. Suffice it to say that our last issue had visitors from 200 countries. It is, of course, to these readers that we owe our biggest vote of thanks. The feedback we receive from them fills us with energy to continue. After all, no matter what statistics show, there is always room for improvement. The journey to Ithaca never ends.

SPECIAL THANK-YOU NOTE: For the completion of issue #16 all members of the Editorial Board of Critical Stages/Scènes Critiques and all members of IATC’s Executive Committee owe (once again) special thanks to Professor Jeffrey Eric Jenkins, Executive Editor of Critical Stages/Scènes Critiques and ExCom member, and the Theatre Department of the University of Illinois at Urbana, for their most valuable financial support. Their generosity keeps us alive.


*Savas Patsalidis is Professor of theatre and performance history and theory in the School of English (Aristotle University, Thessaloniki), the Hellenic Open University and the Drama Academy of the National Theatre of Northern Greece. He is also a regular lecturer on the Graduate Programme of the Theatre Department at Aristotle University. He is the author of thirteen books on theatre and performance criticism/theory and co-editor of another thirteen. His two-volume study, Theatre, Society, Nation (2010), was awarded first prize for best theatre study of the year. In addition to his academic activities, he works as a theatre reviewer for the ejournals lavartparallaxi, and the greekplay project. He is currently the president of the Hellenic Association of Theatre and Performing Arts Critics and the editor-in-chief of Critical Stages/Scènes Critiques, the journal of the International Association of Theatre Critics.