Dear ATCA Friends and Colleagues,
As you know, the International Association of Theatre Critics (IATC) recently launched a web journal called Critical Stages. The editorial board of Critical Stages, headed by Maria Helena Serodio (IATC honorary secretary general and professor at Lisbon University), is presently preparing the second edition of the journal, one of the key departments of which is called "Theatre Reviews."
I would like to invite several ATCA members to submit reviews. Here are the guidelines:
1) The review should concern a relevant performance during the current U.S. theatre season that would justify international attention, i.e., "that would be important for international critics and scholars to know about."
2) A double-spaced MS Word article file, 2,000 to 2,500 words (or 15,000 characters) in length should be submitted as an e-mail attachment. If written in English, the article should include an abstract – not longer than 200 words. If written in French, it should include an abstract in English.
3) The title of the article only should appear at the head of the article file. The author’s name and/or institution should not appear in the article file itself.
4) A separate file should contain a cover letter with author’s name, title of the article, address, e-mail address, telephone number, and professional affiliation.
5) The writer will have to provide at least three (3) high-resolution digital photographs (JPEG), as well as other types of illustrations. A photo of a performance should include: title of the performance, name of the playwright (if there is one), name of the director, name of the company, theatre venue, date of the première of that performance, names of the actors (clockwise from top left) and photographer's credits. All necessary permissions for images should be provided. These photos can be in the form of an e-mail from the company, or documentation that you have procured the images from an official web site. In case the performance attended by the reviewer does not coincide with the opening night, the reviewer should somewhere register this fact in her/his text, but without interfering with the general information referring to that production (so that it should match the date recorded in national and international date bases).
6) All writing submissions will be reviewed by members of the editorial board of Critical Stages. This peer-review process will determine the suitability of the articles for publication. Reviews will selected on the principles of geo-political balance and quality of writing.
7) No fee will be offered for the contribution. At the moment, Critical Stages is, and will be, operated on a voluntary basis. (If and when the journal is able to generate enough revenue in the near-future, we will, of course, gladly pay for the contributions.)
8) The editorial board will be unable to read submissions of a different length or formatting from these stated guidelines.
9) Critical Stages is seeking original reviews, not reprints of reviews that have been published elsewhere. We ask that articles first published in Critical Stages include reference to the web address of the journal when they are republished elsewhere.
10) The deadline to submit the review is Feb. 12, 2010. Please send your articles or any questions to Yun-Cheol Kim (yunckim@naver.com) or Maria Helena Serodio (m.h.serodio@netcabo.pt).
Theatre reviewing is one of our most important functions as critics. In this time of globalization, the members of the editorial board members of Critical Stages are irresistibly curious of what is happening in theatre around the world and to learn the context of local performances. I hope you share our enthusiasm and will contribute your reviews to Critical Stages. I look forward to your sympathetic response and encouragement.
Sincerely,
Randy Gener
in behalf of the editorial board of Critical Stages, the IATC web journal
vice president, ATCA's international committee, http://www.atcainternational.blogspot.com/
senior editor, American Theatre magazine / Theatre Communications Group
on Twitter: http://twitter.com/RandyGener
