Theatre Criticism: Changing Landscapes

Description

The world of theatre criticism is rapidly changing in its form, function and modes of operation in the twenty-first century. The dominance of the internet has led to a growing trend of selfappointed theatre critics and bloggers who are changing the focus and purpose of the discussion around live performance. Even though the blogosphere has garnered suspicion and hostility from some mainstream newspaper critics, it has also provided significant intellectual and ideological challenges to the increasingly conservative profile of the professional critic. This book features 16 commissioned contributions from scholars, arts journalists and bloggers, as well as a small selection of innovative critical practice. Authors from Australia, Canada, Croatia, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Russia, the UK and the US share their perspectives on relevant historical, theoretical and political contexts influencing the development of the discipline, as well as specific aspects of the contemporary practices and genres of theatre criticism. The book features an introductory essay by its editor, Duka Radosavljevic. Cover page Halftitle page Title page Copyright page CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS CHAPTER 1 THEATRE CRITICISM: CHANGING LANDSCAPES Theatre criticism in the twenty-fi rst century The public sphere Conversation Notes Works cited PART I CONTEXTS AND HISTORIES OF THEATRE CRITICISM CHAPTER 2 STYLE VERSUS SUBSTANCE: AMERICAN THEATRE CRITICISM SINCE 1945 After the war: maturity Drama at the Times The rise of the ‘blurb whore’ Acknowledgements Works cited CHAPTER 3 THE PROBLEM OF RELIABILITY: THEATRE CRITICISM IN LATVIA Contemporary context A glimpse of the Soviet past Construction of meaning Latvian theatre practice in the twenty- fi rst century Conclusion Notes Works cited CHAPTER 4 FROM THE UNCRITICAL CERTAINTIES OF MODERNISM TO THE CRITICAL UNCERTAINTIES OF POSTMODERNISM: REVIEWING THEATRE IN GREECE Historical survey The utopia of the post-dictatorship years From utopia to dystopia: enter depression culture Theatre economics: the meltdown The critics and the crisis The critics’ (postmodern) role Concluding remark Notes Works cited CHAPTER 5 RUSSIAN THEATRE CRITICISM: IN SEARCH OF CONTEMPORARY RELEVANCE Theatre criticism in Russia The Russian school of criticism New theatre theories and their influence on Russian criticism How was new theatre of the 2000s perceived by Russian critics? Contemporary Russian criticism – summary Notes Works cited CHAPTER 6 HOW TO GET YOUR HANDS DIRTY: OLD AND NEW MODELS OF‘MILITANT’ THEATRE CRITICISM IN ITALY Dirty hands and militancy: creative criticism Dirty hands after the 1980s: from political statement to material necessity Notes Works cited CHAPTER 7 WHAT GERMAN THEATRE CRITICS THINK AND WHAT THEIR READERS EXPECT: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF MISUNDERSTANDINGS Theatre criticism in Germany The study The critics The Readers Critics and their readers Notes Work cited CHAPTER 8 A BRIEF HISTORY OF ONLINE THEATRE CRITICISM IN ENGLAND Phase 1 Phase II Phase III Conclusion Notes Works cited PART II CRITICS’ VOICES CHAPTER 9 DO THEY MEAN ME? A SURVEY OF FICTIONAL THEATRE CRITICS Critic by profession, critic by sensibility The critic as the butt of the joke The critic as Lothario The critic as drunk The critic as corpse The critic as theatre lover Critic by profession, critic by sensibility revisited Works cited CHAPTER 10 BETWEEN JOURNALISM AND ART: THE LOCATION OF CRITICISM IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY Criticism: chronicle of a death foretold All change? The twenty-first-century critic Against cultural relativism: in defence of criticism In support of ‘radical elitism’ Against miserablism: the future of criticism Notes Works cited CHAPTER 11 CODE-SWITCHING AND CONSTELLATIONS: ON FEMINIST THEATRE CRITICISM Demystifying criticism Modes of production and constellations of relationships Danger Labour and code-switching Notes Works cited CHAPTER 12 THE CRITIC AS INSIDER: SHIFTING UK CRITICAL PRACTICE TOWARDS ‘EMBEDDED’ RELATIONSHIPS AND THE ROUTES THIS OPENS UP TOWARDS DIALOGUE AND DRAMATURGY It started with a hunch It started with journalism It starts with trust It started decades ago Notes Works cited PART III CHANGING FORMS AND FUNCTIONS OF CRITICISM CHAPTER 13 CRITICISM AS A POLITICAL EVENT Towards a politicized critical practice Criticism and the neoliberal: politics and aesthetics The fall as gesture of criticism Configurations of resistance: criticism as a political event A final return Note Works cited CHAPTER 14 CONVERSATION AND CRITICISM: AUDIENCES AND UNFINISHED CRITICAL THINKING Digital conversations Art criticism as a digital conversation Audience conversations Written criticism Unfinished thinking Some conclusions and a table Works cited CHAPTER 15 CROWDSOURCING THE REVIEW AND THE RECORD: A COLLABORATIVE APPROACH TO THEATRE CRITICISM AND ARCHIVING IN THE DIGITAL AGE Crowdsourced theatre criticism Accessibility and its limits Crowdsourcing the archive Notes Works cited CHAPTER 16 ARTICISM (ART + CRITICISM) AND THE LIVE BIRDS OF PASSIONATE RESPONSE I II III IV V Notes Works cited CHAPTER 17 PERFORMATIVE CRITICISM AND CREATIVE CRITICAL WRITING Critiquing objectivity Theatricalizing theory Theatre criticism: Susannah Clapp and Lyn Gardner Works cited PART IV SAMPLES OF CRITICAL PRACTICE CHAPTER 18 HOW TO THINK LIKE A THEATRE CRITIC CHAPTER 19 NOTA CHAPTER 20 HUFF CHAPTER 21 TEH INTERNET IS A SERIOUS BUSINESS INDEX