A Note from the Editor

This issue of Theatre Topics is what may be considered the first of the journal’s new format. Previously published in March and September, the journal now moves into a differing relationship with its readers, publishing in June, in addition to the Fall and Spring issues. During this moment of transition, I thought it was important to look back at the history of the journal and its relationship with the field. As this issue formed, however, it also became clear that the content reflects on relatively new developments in the field: from social media as theatre criticism, to using interactive media to facilitate the translation of eighteenth-century text, to how the next generation makes a previous generation see.

The current issue may look unlike what our readers have come to expect. Indeed, there are a plethora of different styles of articles, from a reflective look back by former editors, to several “Notes from the Field,” to the more theoretically bound essays. They all continue the work that TT has done for some twenty years now: to engage artists and scholars (and those somewhere in-between those troubling monikers) in conversation with other colleagues in our discipline, and to provide an archival record for important work.

The June issue begins with a series of “Reflections” from past editors of TT. I am particularly pleased that every former editor was able to contribute their thoughts, and I would like to thank each one of them for their time and effort. As noted therein, the current format of the journal is not so much new, as a return to previous engagements with innovative publishing styles. In particular, the Notes from the Field section is one that has returned again and again throughout the history of the journal. This forum demonstrates how TT has, from the moment of its inception, not only endeavored to publish innovative work connecting theory and practice, but has also created lively conversations about best practices for performance research and pedagogy. This outlook persists with the three intriguing Notes pieces included in this issue.

I would also like to thank Henry Bial for agreeing to contribute his presidential address from the ATHE 2013 conference. For those individuals who were not able to be present at the conference in Orlando, this inclusion will allow them to partake of some (albeit not the live presentation) of an important moment of transition in the leadership of the organization. TT has served, at various moments in its history, as a different location for archiving the ephemeral, yet important presentations that happen in person, each summer, at the annual conference. It is our hope that TT will continue with this important legacy and further build its institutional relationships with ATHE.

This journal’s more typical engagement with deep theoretical pieces begins with Lisa Brenner’s essay “Playing Jewish at the National Asian American Theatre Company.” Wound through two case studies—NAATCO’s productions of Leah’s Train (2009) and Awake and Sing! (2013)—Brenner questions how the overlay of Asian and Jewish identities allows us a more profound and subtle understanding of the critical reception of these two groups as they unfold through performance. While Brenner cites much of the existing literature on the performativity of race and ethnicity, her work is an important addition to the field, as it deepens preexisting arguments regarding the complexity and multiplicity of identity in performance. And, as we go to press, the performance of Awake and Sing! just garnered an Obie for lead actress Mia Katigbak.

Oona Hatton’s “‘Hey, asshole: you had your say’: The Performance of Theatre Criticism” is guided by a more ephemeral case study: the controversy surrounding “neil labute’s” posts to the online theatre review section of Time Out Chicago. Here, a person who may or may not be Neil LaBute, along with some irate responders, demonstrate how the internet is changing theatrical criticism, and how ensuing questions of production, dissemination, archiving, and authenticity are called into play. As with Wendy Arons and colleagues’ Notes from the Field, Hatton’s essay suggests how social media is changing the ways in which...