DONATE: Critical Stages Needs You

Critical Stages

THE PRESIDENT and the secretary general of the International Association of Theatre Critics (AICT-IATC) have written to remind those who support critical engagement and advocacy in the arts that Critical Stages, the international web journal overseen by IATC, relies upon its readers for significant financial support. At the recent Beijing World Congress of AICT-IATC the General Assembly passed without objection a call for subsidies from national sections. The suggested minimum donation in that motion was $100 USD, though some members indicated that larger sections might be able to do more.

Since the inception of the journal, its functions have been largely supported by volunteer members of the editorial board and by the largesse provided by institutions who believed in the mission of the publication as detailed by the IATC and its former president (and former Critical Stages editor), Yun-Cheol Kim.

Illinois Theatre, the producing arm of the Department of Theatre at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has provided significant support for the past two funding cycles through institutional advertising. Given the technological nature of a global, bilingual publication such as Critical Stages, there are fixed costs for consistent upgrades and maintenance of the website in addition to the challenges of keeping the archives easily accessible.

Please take a moment to read this message from President Margareta Sörenson and Secretary General Michel Vaïs:

Our organization, IATC, is growing. More than ever before, we are reaching out to continents beyond the Western world—a very positive direction. We are also organizing successful conferences and important seminars for young critics. And another source of pride for IATC is Critical Stages, our web journal.

Today, the media world is changing at full speed: print media and the mainstream press are both diminishing platforms for our work, so that many theatre critics around the world are urgently seeking ways to publish. As we saw at our recent Beijing conference on criticism and the internet, many of us are finding that new technologies can provide support for the work of the critic.

In this context, our own web journal, Critical Stages, is essential to us all. A journal committed to excellence, it offers readers an overview of the performing arts internationally and, at the same time, gives us a platform of our own on the web, for nurturing our profession and inviting the world to share in the excitement and challenges of theatre criticism. 

We need to secure the future of Critical Stages, by giving it a stable financial life. Since before its first issue in 2009, the journal has been produced on a shoestring budget and by volunteers. Once again we thank Yun-Cheol Kim for his initative and team-building work in creating Critical Stages, and now we thank Savas Patsalidis for taking over as an editor working with a highly qualified group of editors. The plans and some funds are already in place for 2015, and a proper bank account is now reserved for Critical Stages and its costs. But for CS’s future: any kind of sponsors or donations are more than welcome! 

Now we ask all national associations to help by making an extra contribution. We know that each country’s economic situation is very different, and as a suggestion we propose contributions between 100 EU and 500 EU. Any amount, smaller or bigger, is of course welcome. Contributions must be sent to our treasurer: 

Stéphane Gilbart
Email: stgilbar@pt.lu

or electronically, as a transfer, to this account: 

AICT – Critical Stages CIC
Iban FR76 3006 6106 8100 0200 4170 347
BIC: CMCIFRPP

Our dream, naturally, is that Critical Stages will become an independent web journal, standing on its own feet, able to compensate contributors in some way and to finance the editorial work. To make the dream come true, we are developing a clear strategy for building a sound foundation, which will lead to long-term stability.

Thank you in advance for your solidarity and help!