Section Editor: Savas Patsalidis (Greece)
Driven by our mission to support a rigorous cross-national and cross-cultural dialogue, I am pleased to announce the launch of this new section whose aim is to cover contemporary theatre life in various countries around the globe. For example, the number of productions (whether they are increasing or decreasing), audience attendance (falling or rising), the unemployment rate among actors and among actresses (is it the same?), government support or lack of support, promising new names (playwrights, directors, actors/actresses), trends, new plays etc. It goes without saying that we do not want a mere listing of names but a critical analysis of the situation. We are deeply interested in finding out more about the factors (political, social, economic etc) that determine the character of local theatre life. By learning more we are in a better position to compare cultures, to see similarities and differences, to talk about bridges and gaps, problems and promises, localities and globalities.
In its first edition we publish eight reports from Europe, North and South America and Asia (Ireland, Hong Kong, Canada, Israel, Chile, Argentina, Greece, Serbia). It is our hope to be able to cover all continents and as many countries as possible in the coming issues.
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 lavart, parallaxi, 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.
