Mark Brown[1] (United Kingdom),
Editor, Conference Papers section
The following selection of conference papers comes in two distinct parts. Firstly, there are two papers chosen from the International Association of Theatre Critics’ ‘Cultural Bridge’ in Tbilisi, Georgia, held on October 1 and 2, 2010, during the Tbilisi International Festival. The title of this conference, which was hosted by the Shota Rustaveli Georgian State University of Theatre and Film, was Theatres – Audience – Critics: A ”Bermuda triangle” or a “Holy Trinity.”
The papers selected here, by Liu Minghou (China) and David Bukhrikidze (Georgia), offer us fascinating insights into the relationships between theatre companies, their audiences and professional theatre critics in two rapidly changing, yet very different societies. I would like to thank my colleague Matti Linnavuori, from Finland, (who participated in the Tbilisi symposium) for his editorial assistance. Thanks are also due to our Georgian colleague Irina Gogoberidze for her tremendous work in organising the conference.
The second, longer, part of this Conference Papers section is the first selection of material from the symposium on Intercriticism, held in Maribor, Slovenia on October 20 and 21, 2010. With its sharp focus on the changing role of theatre criticism around the world, and upon the dangers, possibilities and responsibilities faced by theatre critics, the conference was of obvious import to Critical Stages.
In this edition of the journal, we feature an initial selection from the Maribor conference, chosen by guest editor Primož Jesenko, organiser of the conference, whose own editorial comment follows. Our thanks to Primož, and also to Alja Predan, director of the Maribor Theatre Festival, for hosting the symposium.
A further selection of the Maribor papers will appear in the fifth edition of Critical Stages, when, I am delighted to say, my colleague Savas Patsalidis, from Greece, will be joining me as co-editor of this section.
[1] Mark Brown is theatre critic of the Scottish national newspaper the Sunday Herald and an occasional contributor to the arts pages of the UK newspaper the Daily Telegraph. He teaches at the University of Strathclyde and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. He is a member of the executive committee of the International Association of Theatre Critics and a member of the editorial board of Critical Stages. He is editor of the forthcoming book Howard Barker interviews 1980-2010: Conversations in Catastrophe (published by Intellect Books, February 2011). In 1999 he received the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society’s ‘Allen Wright Award’ for “outstanding arts journalism” by a young writer.
[Maribor Conference]
[Tbilisi Conference]
