The Evolution of Themes, Networks, and Intersections in <i>Canadian Theatre Review</i>

This article looks at the use of themes in Canadian Theatre Review as a means of focusing attention on the different networks involved in creating and promoting performance in this place many call ‘Canada.’ It points to CTR’s early focus on making sure the right hand knew what the left hand was doing through issues focused on different regions of Canada. Starting in the mid-1980s, however, themes started to shift to building networks around common interests or conditions experienced by specific groups of Canadian theatre artists who were excluded from the larger Canadian theatre imaginary. Intersections were built around issues like feminism, gender and sexuality, ethnicity, racialization, and cultural difference. This coincided with new ways of thinking about how we make and receive performances, changes needed in institutional structures that support performance creation, and a shift from a literary view of play creation to more focus on the different arts of performance. The influence of new computer technologies and of the new discipline of performance studies opened up more intersections between networks of theatre practitioners in fields like historical re-enactment, science, health care, social justice advocacy, and gaming. Approaching its 200th issue, CTR is creating important intersections between practitioners concerned with social inequalities, racism and gender discrimination in theatre, public participation, environmental issues, and more. Most important, it is encouraging the development of tools that will ensure more control of performance institutions for a wider range of artists and audiences than ever before.