Peter Hay[1] American comedian and writer Mel Brooks was once asked what he thought of critics. “They’re very noisy at night,” he replied at once: “You can’t sleep in the country because of them.” When the interviewer tried to explain
The Last Word
Lady Anne’s Blog: Some Initial Thoughts on the Evolution of Theatrical Commentary in South Africa
Temple Hauptfleisch[1] [the Theatre] … was opened for the first time a few days ago – a very pretty one indeed. We felt ourselves obliged to go and to pay a sum for our box, else we should have been
Too Important To Be Left to Amateurs
Don Rubin[1] Abstract / Resumé In the following paper─presented at the final Plenary Session of the Gujarat conference on theatre criticism in India in January 2010─Canadian critic Don Rubin establishes a taxonomy of criticism while arguing that expertise and judgment
Twenty-one Asides on Theatre Criticism
Mark Brown[1] The following set of aphorisms can be read as one critic’s personal manifesto. They represent a series of conclusions I have come to in the course of 16 years as a professional theatre critic within Scotland, the UK
Three Questions I Keep Asking Myself in Practicing Criticism
Yun-Cheol Kim[1] (President, IATC) Abstract / Resumé In the following paper―presented as keynote speech at the Gujarat conference on theatre criticism in India in January 2010―Korean critic and President of the IATC reflects on his philosophy of theatre criticism. Dans
Jin-Chaek Sohn: A humanistic vision
Interviewed by Soon-Ja Hur[1] Theatre Director Sohn (b. 1947) is Founding Artistic Director cum President of the Michoo Theatre Company. He has directed and produced over 80 plays of various genres and origins, including the annual Madang-nori performances in which
Athol Fugard: A New theatre named in his honour
Interviewed by Brent Meersman[1] Athol Fugard can’t bring himself to say the name of the new theatre named in his honour. “I’m just going to call it the District Six Theatre,” he says, pen in hand to autograph a copy
A Journal that Fills a Void
Steve Capra[1] (New York) The first issue of Critical Stages, The International Association of Theatre Critics’ webjournal, appeared in the last quarter of last year. It’s rare that a new journal fills a void, as this one does, and it’s
Chinese Shakespeares: Two Centuries of Cultural Exchange
By Alexander C.Y. Huang, New York: Columbia University Press, 2009. 350 pp. Lissa Tyler Renaud[1] Does Shakespeare “belong” to the British, or to all the English-speaking countries? Or to the West? Or to the world? Generally, to those who answer
Encyclopédie mondiale des arts de la marionnette
Ed. Henryk Jurkowski et Thieri Foulc Montpellier: Éditions l’Entretemps, 2009, 862 pp. Irène Sadowska-Guillon[1] Il s’agit d’une première encyclopédie mondiale des arts de la marionnette, une étude gigantesque et fouillée des traditions, des styles, des techniques, du travail de création,