{"id":911,"date":"2020-06-21T10:14:54","date_gmt":"2020-06-21T10:14:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/?p=911"},"modified":"2020-06-22T12:29:39","modified_gmt":"2020-06-22T12:29:39","slug":"the-new-soundscape-of-global-culture-editorial-note","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/the-new-soundscape-of-global-culture-editorial-note\/","title":{"rendered":"The New Soundscape of Global Culture: Editorial Note"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Octavian Saiu<\/strong><a href=\"#end\" name=\"back\">*<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This special topic of <em>Critical Stages<\/em>\/<em>Sc\u00e8nes critiques<\/em> feels genuinely . . . special, as it reflects the deep, eternal relationship between two artforms that share so much, yet remain fundamentally independent. What they share is not only an elementary reliance on sound and presence; they share the same belief in emotional communication, as an intrinsic dimension of human existence. What separates them, however, is a set of creative principles, so obviously different that they do not need any further clarification. The relation between theatre and music, therefore, is one of \u201cintrigue and love,\u201d of constant alliance and unbated rivalry, of mutual nourishment and radical disparity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When this special topic was formulated, it was with such aesthetic and anthropological narratives in mind. It was meant as an invitation to explore the metamorphoses of the theatre\u2013music dynamics, an attempt to map the present state of a relationship with such a rich, strenuous past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a world that continues to be called postmodern, a world that can equally be called supermodern, hypermodern, transmodern or perhaps left without any label at all, a world in which almost everything is hybrid and hardly anything pure, music and theatre are continuously redefining themselves through each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From a record number of submissions covering as wide a historical span as that between ancient Greek spectacle and contemporary soundscape, only the following few have been selected. They illustrate a series of perspectives from as many cultural and geographical backgrounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Regarded separately, they are a conglomerate of viewpoints and approaches, linked by the same thread: the theatricality of music, the musicality of theatre. Understood together, they are a valuable scrutiny of this theme at a crucial moment in time, when we realise not only how much we all long for live theatre and live music, but how essential they are to our own spiritual survival in the digital age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This selection of critical contributions would not have looked and read as well as they do, if it was not for the sharp eye and acumen of Savas Patsalidis, the indefatigable Editor-in-Chief of this publication. My gratitude is sincere, and so is my faith in the quality and the meaning of the textual selection available here for everyone to discover and enjoy in the global public sphere.<a name=\"end\">&nbsp;<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a name=\"end\" href=\"#back\">*<\/a><strong>Octavian Saiu<\/strong>, Adjunct Secretary General of IATC and President of the Romanian Section of IATC \u2013 Theatre Studies, holds a PhD in Theatre Studies and another one in Comparative Literature. He has published articles in several international journals, as well as eleven books on theatre. Actively involved in various international festivals around the world, he has chaired and given talks mainly at Edinburgh International Festival and Sibiu International Theatre Festival. He has taught, coordinated workshops and offered master classes at universities in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, as well as the Grotowski Institute. He received the Critics\u2019 Award in 2010, the Award of the Union of Theatre Artists (UNITER) in 2013, and was awarded the Order of Cultural Merit by the President of Romania in 2020.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":912,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-special-topic"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2020\/06\/Octavian-Saiu.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":110,"url":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/theatre-for-sounds-and-souls-or-the-polish-song-of-the-goat-and-its-quest-into-the-impossible\/","url_meta":{"origin":911,"position":0},"title":"Theatre for Sounds and Souls; or, The Polish Song of the Goat and Its Quest into the Impossible","author":"Octavian Saiu","date":"May 30, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Kalina Stefanova* Abstract This text is an attempt to delve into the idiosyncratic theatre world of the Polish Song of the Goat Theatre. By focusing on their productions inspired by Shakespeare, it attempts to trace the formation and development of a special \u201cvertical theatre reality\u201d\u2014something of urgent necessity in our\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Special Topic&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Special Topic","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/category\/special-topic\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2020\/03\/Image3-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2020\/03\/Image3-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2020\/03\/Image3-2.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2020\/03\/Image3-2.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":509,"url":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/georgia-in-search-of-new-forms-and-ideas\/","url_meta":{"origin":911,"position":1},"title":"GEORGIA: In Search of New Forms and Ideas","author":"Octavian Saiu","date":"May 14, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Natalia Tvaltchrelidze* The most striking thing in the Orthodox Easter afternoon in Georgia\u2019s capital Tbilisi was the complete silence on the streets. Movement of vehicles was prohibited for four days in a desperate attempt to have fewer people go to churches and preserve the country\u2019s relative success in fighting the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Covid&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Covid","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/category\/covid\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2020\/05\/flag-geo-400.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":391,"url":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/transforming-the-dark-using-colour-to-compose-sound-in-dark-matter\/","url_meta":{"origin":911,"position":2},"title":"Transforming the Dark: Using Colour to Compose Sound in Dark Matter","author":"Octavian Saiu","date":"June 3, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"A discussion between Martyn Roberts* and Dr Jeremy Mayall** Abstract Dark Matter is a performance with light as the main character and a soundscape composed by Dr Jeremy Mayall with Martyn Roberts. The theatre space is extremely dark with all care taken to eliminate all visible light. The audience, unable\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Special Topic&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Special Topic","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/category\/special-topic\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2020\/05\/featured-Trans.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2020\/05\/featured-Trans.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2020\/05\/featured-Trans.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2020\/05\/featured-Trans.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":182,"url":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/paradigm-shift-making-theatre-with-social-media-in-the-21st-century\/","url_meta":{"origin":911,"position":3},"title":"Paradigm Shift: Making Theatre with Social Media","author":"Octavian Saiu","date":"May 4, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Danielle Le Saux-Farmer* Abstract In The Society of the Spectacle, first published in French in 1967, Guy Debord has a sense that \"the show is not a collection of images, but a social rapport between people, mediatized by images.\" While his observations certainly ring true in the internet age, it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Essays&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Essays","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/category\/essays\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2020\/04\/image4-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2020\/04\/image4-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2020\/04\/image4-1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2020\/04\/image4-1.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":777,"url":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/ideology-and-machines-in-the-work-of-richard-wagner\/","url_meta":{"origin":911,"position":4},"title":"Ideology and Machines in the Work of Richard Wagner","author":"Octavian Saiu","date":"June 8, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Themelis Glynatsis* Abstract A new production of a Richard Wagner work can in no way be compared to other stagings from the current repertoire in its demand of artistic, technical and financial capital. The aesthetic and ideological universe as envisaged by the composer is caught up in a profoundly bourgeois\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Special Topic&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Special Topic","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/category\/special-topic\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2020\/06\/image4.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2020\/06\/image4.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2020\/06\/image4.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2020\/06\/image4.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":569,"url":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/have-you-ever-had-an-intention-the-postmodern-condition-and-the-failure-of-epiphany-in-michael-john-lachiusas-little-fish\/","url_meta":{"origin":911,"position":5},"title":"\u201cHave you ever had an intention?\u201d: The Postmodern Condition and the Failure of Epiphany in Michael John LaChiusa\u2019s Little Fish","author":"Octavian Saiu","date":"June 7, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Mara Davis* Abstract Michael John LaChiusa\u2019s 2003 musical Little Fish is a work that engages with the conditions of living in the postmodern age. This article analyses how LaChiusa manipulates the formal properties of the musical in order to express the disconnection and fragmentation of postmodern living. It examines the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Special Topic&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Special Topic","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/category\/special-topic\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2020\/05\/image2-21.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2020\/05\/image2-21.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2020\/05\/image2-21.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2020\/05\/image2-21.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=911"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/911\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":924,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/911\/revisions\/924"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}