The Thalia Prize: Erika Fischer-Lichte

Jeffrey Eric Jenkins*

It is time for one more celebration as the end of our official business at the 30th World Congress draws near. As we turn to our Thalia Prize ceremony, we first want to introduce you to Milan Němeček, Director General of the Live Arts Division for the Ministry of Culture of Czechia and Pavla Petrová, Director of the Arts and Theatre Institute.

From left to right: Jeffrey Eric Jenkins, President of AICT/IATC, Milan Němeček, Director General of the Live Arts Division for the Ministry of Culture of Czechia and Pavla Petrová, Director of the Arts and Theatre Institute. Photo: PerformCzech/ATI, Ivo Dvořák

The leadership of Director General Němeček and Director Petrová have provided the underpinning for all of the events we have enjoyed here this week. We are deeply grateful to them for their support of theatre and the performing arts.

Since 2006, the International Association of Theatre Critics has honored eight critics, theoreticians, and practitioners for their outstanding contributions to shaping global understanding of theatre across a wide range of cultural environments, politics, and aesthetics.

Pavla Petrová and Jeffrey Eric Jenkins with the Thalia Prize trophy designed by Dragoş Buhagiar and provided by the Romanian section of AICT/IATC. Photo: Courtesy of Radim Dolansky

Those first eight honorees were Eric Bentley (USA, 2006), Jean-Pierre Sarrazac (France, 2008), Richard Schechner (USA, 2010), Kapila Vatsyayan (India, 2012), Eugenio Barba (Denmark, 2014), Femi Osofisan (Nigeria, 2016), Hans-Thies Lehmann (Germany, 2018), and Tadashi Suzuki (Japan, 2020). Today, we celebrate our ninth Thalia Prize honoree.

Thalia Prize, a cane topped with a figure in silver of the Greek muse of comedy after whom it is named. Photo: PerformCzech/ATI, Ivo Dvořák

The 2024 Thalia Prize committee included AICT/IATC Vice President Irina Gogoberidze of Georgia and Pawit Mahasarinand of Thailand. The committee was chaired by Ivan Medenica of Serbia. Following a report by the Thalia committee, the executive committee of AICT/IATC voted unanimously last year to present the prize to Prof. Dr. Fischer-Lichte.

Thalia Chair Ivan Medenica of Serbia (standing, at right), and Zhu Ning from China, Savas Patsalidis from Greece, and Manabu Noda from Japan (left to right) share their thoughts on the impact of Prof. Dr. Erika Fischer-Lichte’s work on world theatre and theory. Photo: PerformCzech/ATI, Ivo Dvořák

Before we present the prize, we will hear from four AICT/IATC members who share their thoughts on the impact of Prof. Dr. Fischer-Lichte. Thalia Chair Ivan Medenica of Serbia is joined by Savas Patsalidis from Greece, Zhu Ning from China, and Manabu Noda from Japan.

Erika Fischer-Lichte receives the Thalia Prize from Jeffrey Eric Jenkins. Photo: PerformCzech/ATI, Ivo Dvořák

It is difficult to imagine the landscape of thought on global theatre and performance over the past several decades without the brilliant perspectives of Erika Fischer-Lichte. It is truly a pleasure for us to honor her outstanding work and contributions to the field.


*Jeffrey Eric Jenkins. President of the International Association of Theatre Critics (AICT-IATC), Executive Editor of Critical Stages/Scènes critiques. He also serves as Professor and Chair of Theatre Studies and Director of Graduate Studies in Theatre at the University of Illinois Urbana-Campaign.