NOMINATIONS: 2018 Thalia Prize Deadline

2016 Thalia Laureate Femi Osofisan

The International Association of Theatre Critics (AICT-IATC) requests proposals for candidates for the IATC Thalia Prize. National and regional sections of IATC are invited to propose candidates. The 2018 Prize will be given at the IATC World Congress in Banff, Canada.

2006 Thalia Laureate
Eric Bentley

The Thalia Prize is IATC’s prestigious award for outstanding contribution to the field of theatre criticism, and to critics and theoreticians who have played significant roles in shaping our understanding of theatre spanning different cultural settings, politics, and aesthetics.

Previous Thalia Prize honorees have featured an impressive selection of laureates: 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).

2008 Thalia Laureate
Jean-Pierre Sarrazac

Recommenders are urged to consider 
candidates whose body of work has been influential at home, in their regions, and abroad, or whose writing they feel merits attention on an international platform. National and regional sections are therefore not restricted to suggesting candidates from their own countries, but may refer any candidate believed to fulfill the criteria of the Prize.

2010 Thalia Laureate
Richard Schechner

National and regional sections proposing candidates must submit a brief biography of the candidate along with translation (where needed) of excerpts from the candidate’s work in English or in French, the working languages of IATC. Thalia honoree recommendations must be submitted by December 19, 2017.

2012 Thalia Laureate
Kapila Vatsyayan

Each national or regional section may propose only one candidate. National and regional sections should note that the successful candidate must be present to receive the award at the Thalia Prize Award Ceremony at the World Congress in Banff, Canada (September 23–28, 2018).

2014 Thalia Laureate
Eugenio Barba

The Executive Committee of IATC will prepare the candidacies received from the national or regional sections for its next meeting in Craiova, Romania in April 2018, where the decision on the laureate will be taken.

For more information or to make a recommendation, members of the American section should contact Jeffrey Eric Jenkins (jej [at] illinois.edu).

Critical Stages Publishes its Spring 2010 Issue

The second issue of Critical Stages, the webjournal of the International Association of Theatre Critics (IATC), came out this spring. 

Yun-Cheol Kim, publisher of Critical Stages and IATC president, said, "All of the editors, headed by Dr. Maria Helena Serodio, have worked extremely hard to make this 'crazy project' a sustainable reality. This journal will be our contribution to world theatre, and serve greatly to make theatre and theatre criticism matter in our society."

In her editorial, Serodio added that the second issue "brings with it the evidence that the IATC is able to pursue one of its main goals: to highlight the need (and the importance) of critics and criticism in the field of theatre. But this claim is not to be held as a vain conceit: it only means that we assume this as a challenge and a responsibility, so that we shall do our best not to disappoint artists, readers and theatre audiences alike."

Three American critics were prominent contributors to the second issue. San Francisco-based writer and acting teacher Lissa Tyler Renaud interviews theatre directors David Zinder and Stan Lai (Lai Sheng-Chuan) in the "Theatre Views" department.

A daring contribution comes from New York-based critic and author of the book Theatre Voices, Steve Capra who actually reviews the first edition of Critical Stages, published this past fall. In his article in the Book Reviews" department, Capra, a dedicated member of the International Committee of the American Theatre Critics Association, writes:

The interviews, the reviews, the discussions of our iconic influences―these all reflect an erudite and articulate critical community. Indeed, Robert Greig's review is close to a model of analysis. Naturally, the material paints a more sanguine portrait of world theatre than it deserves. As our publisher rightly notes, “The theatre is in a real crisis.” The unique contribution of the issue lies in its first and final sections: “Theatrical Commentary and Professing Theatre Criticism” (it’s unclear why the sections are separate). It’s here that Critical Stages addresses its mission most directly, and we find discussions of criticism per se, material that contextualizes our work. It somehow validates us.

In addition, on the eve of granting the third Thalia Prize to Richard Schechner in IATC's forthcoming Congress in Yerevan, Armenia, to be held in June, American Theatre senior editor Randy Gener subjects the French critic, playwright and essayist Jean-Pierre Sarrazac to a Proust Questionnaire. The speech Sarrazac read in Sofia is also published in French. Sarrazac received the second Thalia Prize in Sofia two years ago “for having influenced critical thinking about the art of theatre.”

In the accompanying photos, the article shows the emblem of the Thalia Prize, which was specially commissioned from the distinguished Romanian stage and artist-designer Dragos Buhagiar: a cane with a silver top, representing Thalia, the Greek muse of comedy. (Incidentally, an interview of Buhagiar appears in the same spring issue.)

Says Kim, "The second issue shows some improvements over the first one. Now we have some moving images, more visual designs, and the archive where you can refer to the past issues. I have no doubt that Critical Stages will soon become one of the best resources, one of the most informative and relevant theatre journals in the world, especially given that we have such a rich pool of fine writers in every corner of the globe. Your suggestions to make it better are always welcome. Please visit the IATC Webjournal and invite your students, colleagues, and your entire theatre community to visit and make use of it."

IATC Thalia Prize Goes to American Critic-Scholar Richard Schechner

The International Association of Theatre Critics – an association of theatre critics, theatre journalists and theatre scholars in over 50 countries – is pleased to announce that the winner of its highest honour, the Thalia Award, will be American critic-scholar Richard Schechner for 2010.

“The Thalia is awarded by IATC every two years,” said IATC President Kim Yun-Cheol of Korea, “to a scholar, theatre critic or theatre practitioner whose writings have significantly influenced critical thinking about the art of theatre. Previous winners have included Eric Bentley (US, 2006) and Jean-Pierre Sarrazac (France, 2008). We are delighted to add such an eminent man of theatre as Prof. Schechner to the list of Thalia laureates.”

The prize includes a specially designed theatrical memento contributed by the Romanian national IATC centre and the Craiova “William Shakespeare” Foundation, and full expenses to attend the award ceremonies which in 2010 will be in Yerevan, Armenia June 16 to 20. Previous awards have been presented at IATC Congresses in Seoul, Korea and Sofia, Bulgaria.

President Kim pointed out that Schechner, based at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, has been the editor of one of the world's leading theatre journals, TDR (The Drama Review) for some 30 years. He first edited TDR from 1962 to 1969 and then returned to it again in 1986, still editing the quarterly journal today.

“During that time, he has turned it from a rather specialised academic journal into the world's leading journal on the avant-garde and later helped it to evolve into the premiere journal of Performance Studies, a field he virtually invented. TDR promoted very early on the work of most of the major avant-garde artists of the late 20th century from Brook and Grotowski, to Barba, Boal and Suzuki. Through its work in Performance Studies, the journal has significantly changed the way theatre is seen world-wide. As well, Prof. Schechner has been a tireless theorist of theatre in Asia and Africa. Indeed, an Asian version of TDR is now coming out in Shanghai. He is also the author of a variety of books which have significantly affected perceptions of theatre on the stage, and the theatrical in our lives,” said Kim.

Among Schechner’s major books are Public Domain (1968), Environmental Theatre (1973), The End of Humanism (1981), Between Theatre and Anthropology (1985), By Means of Performance: Intercultural Studies (1990), The Future of Ritual (1993), and Performance Theory (2003). His books have been translated into Spanish, Chinese, Parsi, Italian, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Hungarian and Serbo-Croat.

“One other aspect of his lifelong work as a scholar-critic-editor has been his constant willingness to test his theories as a working director, “ said Kim. “He has done this on stages in New York through his Performance Group (which produced such landmark shows as Dionysus in '69), through the Wooster Group, through the East Coast Artists company which he ran from 1992 to 2009 and in the many individual productions he has staged in China, India, South Africa, Poland and Taipei among other countries. He is truly an international figure and a most worthy winner of this award. We are delighted that he has chosen to accept the Thalia Award for 2010.”

Nominations Are Now Open for the IATC Thalia Prize 2010

In 2006, the IATC Thalia Prize went to Eric Bentley, the world-renowned U.S. playwright, singer and critic who wrote such plays as Lord Alfred's Lover and such path-finding books as The Playwright as Thinker, Bentley on Brecht and The Life of the Drama.

Two years later, in 2008, the prestigious Thalia Prize went to Jean-Pierre Sarrazac, the French playwright, director and critic who was the first to identify the influential notion of the post-dramatic theatre.

It is now time to choose the next winner from anywhere in the world.  Who would you like to nominate for the third IATC Thalia Prize? The Executive Committee of the International Association of Theatre Critics has issued an open call for nomination from each IATC national section.

The deadline is for nominations is December 1, 2009.  The winner who will take home the IATC Thalia Prize (it takes the form of a cane, see photo below) will be chosen on January 30, 2010.

Here are the official rules and instructions:

The Thalia Prize is normally awarded by the International Association of Theatre Critics at each of its biennial congresses to a scholar, theatre critic or theatre practitioner whose writings have significantly influenced critical thinking about the art of theatre.  Previous winners are Eric Bentley (US, 2006) and Jean-Pierre Sarrazac (France, 2008).

The prize includes a specially designed theatrical memento contributed by the Romanian national Section and the Craiova Shakespeare Foundation, and full expenses to attend the award ceremonies wherever they take place. Previous awards have been presented at IATC Congresses in Seoul, Korea and Sofia, Bulgaria.

Each IATC Section is encouraged to nominate Thalia candidates from anywhere in the world.

The ultimate winner will normally be well-known in at least one geographical or linguistic region of the world and at least modestly known in a second region. To ensure this, each nominating national IATC Section is encouraged to obtain a seconder from another geographical or linguistic region. Candidates with seconders will be given primary consideration.

Each national IATC Section may nominate two candidates but if a Section chooses to submit a second nomination, that person must come from another country. A Section may not second more than two candidates. 

All nominations will be vetted by the IATC Executive Committee to ensure these rules have been met. The Excom will vote on a winner at a meeting or by e-mail at least three months prior to the actual presentation of the award. The Executive Committee may not add candidates to the list but may decline to give the award in any given year for lack of suitable nominees. The Excom’s decision shall be final and not subject to further discussion.

To submit a nominee, a national Section must send a letter or an e-mail to the IATC President, copied to the IATC Secretary General, that includes a justification for each nomination of up to 300 words. This must include the major work or works of the writer along with brief biographical details and a statement of why this person is deserving of the Thalia. Verbal nominations will not be accepted.  In countries where there is more than one recognized national group, each one may submit one nominee without the agreement of the other one(s). E-mail and/or telephone contact information for the nominee must be part of the nomination letter.

Ideally, the laureate will be available to attend the award ceremonies. The IATC will cover economy air and hotel costs to ensure such participation. Should they be unable to come to the award ceremony, the nominee must be willing to send a speech of acceptance and/or a lecture which will be read publicly on that occasion. Excom will handle these details in association with the Section in the winner’s home country.

Sections may nominate a candidate as many times as they wish as long as they follow procedures for each new nominating period. A list of previous winners (and nominees, from 2010 on) will be circulated with the call for new candidates.

The deadline for receipt of nominees for the 2010 award (to be presented at the 2010 IATC Congress) is December 1^st, 2009. A final decision will be made by the Excom by 30 January 2010.

In the South Korean capital of Seoul, ATCA delegates Kerri Allen, Carol Douglass, Glenn Loney, Thalia Prize winner Eric Bentley, Randy Gener and Gwen Orel.