SDC JOURNAL PEER-REVIEWED SECTION (PRS)

Published by SDC, the SDC Journal Peer-Reviewed Section (PRS) serves directors and choreographers working professionally and in institutions of higher learning. SDC’s mission is to give voice to an empowered collective of directors and choreographers working in all jurisdictions and venues across the country, encourage advocacy, and highlight artistic achievement.

To that end, the PRS seeks essays with accessible language that focus on practice and practical application and that exemplify the fruitful intersections between academic/scholarly and professions/crafts. We are particularly invested in exploring directorial work, applications, and innovations in antiracist theatre practices and related ways of centering care in artistic spaces, laboratories, and classrooms.

Examples of these types of articles include:

  • Scholarly analysis of directorial or choreographic practice (by oneself or another); practice-based research and performance as research.
  • Scholarship on innovations in the field, such as new approaches to collaboration, casting, staging, staging intimacy, ensemble-building, and uses of technology, digital theatre and AI; considering how these impact professional work and/or teaching in higher education.
  • Scholarship on the relationship between changes in the professional field and the training of theatre artists, including innovative, non-traditional approaches and applications of directorial and choreographic practices and skills, as well as applications of these skills in other economies.
  • Scholarship that inspires creative work (original practices, historical context, theory).
  • Dramaturgical material from a production or piece that might be of interest to other directors or choreographers, such as topic-specific research or elements of process related to script formulation, adaptation, or devising.
  • Approaches to training, teaching, and/or mentoring the transitions between undergraduate, M.F.A., or Ph.D. training and the profession.
  • Continuing education/training for directors and choreographers.
  • Scholarship about sociological dynamics of the profession—such as diversity and equity in hiring, rates of compensation and benefits, representation and unions, intellectual property rights, etc.
  • Professional-academic partnerships (eg. academic institutions with professional theatre partnerships, residencies, or guest artists programs): What are best practices? How might we further build connections?

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

  • Essays: approx. 4,500 words (inclusive). Shorter essays will also be considered.
  • Double-spaced document in MS Word with no identifying author information.
  • Separate cover sheet with author name, affiliation, and full contact information.
  • Style: MLA parenthetical citations; endnotes should be kept to a minimum.
  • Separate files for illustrations with placement of illustration and caption indicated in document. Photos are encouraged but not required.
  • No simultaneous submissions will be accepted.

Submissions will be acknowledged within one week and distributed to two readers to be blind-refereed. Response time is approximately three months. Criteria for evaluation includes: the strength of argument, clarity of methodology, use of evidence, quality of writing, originality of thought, contribution to the field, and timeliness of subject matter.

Please send submissions or queries electronically to both co-editors:

Ann M. Shanahan
MFA, Professor and Artistic Director, Department of Theatre and Drama
University of Wisconsin – Madison
Amshanahan@wisc.edu

Emily A. Rollie
PhD, Associate Professor of Theatre
Central Washington University
Erollie@gmail.com

SDC JOURNAL PEER-REVIEWED SECTION (PRS) BOOK REVIEW

The SDC Journal Peer-Reviewed Section seeks artists and practitioners to review books and publications that focus upon the field of directing or choreography. The book review section is an edited section that seeks to provide SDC Members and readers with in-depth analysis of scholarly and popular material that is inspired by or has a direct impact on the work of directors or choreographers.

For those seeking their first foray into publishing, the book review is an excellent way to learn the publishing process and explore the development of their ideas in-print. In addition to reviewers, the editors also seek book titles and publications for review that would be of interest to SDC Members. Inquiries, for both reviews and titles for review, should be directed to:

Kathleen M. McGeever
MFA, Professor of Performance and Chair
Northern Arizona University
Kathleen.McGeever@nau.edu

Ruth Pe Palileo
PhD, Artistic Director
Current Theatrics
Current.theatrics@gmail.com