Theatre Blogging: The Emergence of a Critical Culture

Description

In this epic history-cum-anthology, Megan Vaughan tells the story of the theatre blogosphere from the dawn of the carefully crafted longform post to today's digital newsletters and social media threads. Contextualising the key debates of fifteen years of theatre history, and featuring the writings of over 40 theatre bloggers, Theatre Blogging brings past and present practitioners into conversation with one another. Starting with Encore Theatre Magazine and Chris Goode in London, George Hunka and Laura Axelrod in New York, Jill Dolan at Princeton University, and Alison Croggon in Melbourne, the work of these influential early adopters is considered alongside those who followed them. Vaughan explores issues that have affected both arts journalism and the theatre industry, profiling the activist bloggers arguing for broader representation and better working conditions, highlighting the innovative dramaturgical practices that have been developed and piloted by bloggers, and offering powerful insights into the precarious systems of labour and economics in which these writers exist. She concludes by considering current threats to the theatre blogosphere, and how the form continues to evolve in response to them.

Megan Vaughan is a writer and researcher currently based in Colchester, Essex. She is widely regarded as one of the most innovative and influential bloggers to have covered London theatre and her blog, Synonyms For Churlish, was active from 2008 until 2016. Now a PhD researcher at Royal Holloway, University of London, she is completing a thesis on amateur theatre criticism and the internet.

Fascinating ... This is an important and persuasive book which has certainly made me stop and think about my own brand, writing style and goals for future pieces. I heartily recommend it to critics and theatre bloggers at any stage in their careers, with the excerpts being reproduced being worth the purchase of the book alone. * Lou Reviews Blog * [A] timely survey of online criticism ... a stimulating snapshot before the bits and bytes melt into techno-oblivion. * Critical Stages * I can't imagine there will ever be a more reliable history of the period ... [Megan Vaughan's] prose is delightfully light-footed. * George Hunka Blog * The theatre blogosphere is a big and sometimes scary place. From its beginnings in 2003 in the diary entries of theatremakers and journalists, to the proliferation of online magazines and communities, to the formal experiments conducted by a new generation of web-literate, critically reflective thinkers, the community is a prolific and assertive and complexly multi-referential beast that can be difficult to navigate. Happily, Megan Vaughan - erstwhile Blogger of Renown, and a doctoral researcher into the subject - is the perfect guide. * Come To The Pedlar blog *