Contemporary Theatre Review (CTR) analyses what is most passionate and vital in theatre today. It encompasses a wide variety of theatres, from new playwrights and devisors to theatres of movement, image and other forms of physical expression, from new acting methods to music theatre and multi-media production work. Recognising the plurality of contemporary performance practices, it encourages contributions on physical theatre, opera, dance, design and the increasingly blurred boundaries between the physical and the visual arts.

The editors aim to publish essays that face the challenge of finding new critical approaches to match artistic innovations and work that transcends established categories. This involves both a focus on productions that invent their own generic forms by juxtaposing different artistic traditions and a consideration of how theatre engages with social and political realities. The journal examines trends in contemporary theatre, including the mainstream, and seeks to explore how theatrical vocabularies are shifting to accommodate and reflect the dynamics and/or tensions within global and local cultures.

CTR opens up new perspectives on the work of major innovators and companies. It aims to cover developments in design, scenography and theatre architecture. It gives a privileged place to assessing the productions and cultural policies of the major international festivals since these are accessible to a large audience, including students, specialists and enthusiasts. On occasion it will also commission articles on burning issues in theatre research and training.

CTR is an international peer-reviewed journal. The editors send out every submission, in anonymous form, to expert referees for a report. These anonymous reports are then fed back to the authors of the submissions for their consideration. No article is published in CTR without going through this rigorous process of refereeing and editing. As well as research articles the journal publishes production notes, designs, manifestos and interviews by emergent and established theatremakers (collected in a 'Documents' section).

Occasional groups of papers on a particular topic or theme are collected as ‘Forum on …'. For those interested in guest editing a special issue of the journal or a ‘Forum on …', guidelines for prospective guest editors of special editions of CTR are available on this website.

The Backpages arena (edited by Caridad Svich) is an opportunity for practitioners and scholars to engage critically and reflectively on current topics in theatre and performance as well as their own work and the work of their peers. Featuring short articles and debates, it's a place of intellectual and creative enquiry and intervention. Whilst the focus of the section is predominantly on UK and US-centred theatre issues and works, Backpages also invites reflections on topics and works outside of the transatlantic English-language-dominant conversation. It's also a place where the articulation in and introduction to the academic forum of the works of new and rising artists in the field is encouraged and offered a welcome platform. The imagined readership of Backpages should therefore be an ordinary intelligent theatre worker. We don't use footnotes, but if precise reference is important to the article, they can incorporated into the body of the text. We actively encourage precise, rigorous analysis written with style and sophistication. Articles that explore alternative modes of framing and presenting discussions within the field and the academy are also encouraged. However, we are not interested in purely personal responses to the theatre, or heavily autobiographical writing; an engagement with the world should be the main focus of the writing. Topical material is very welcome but we don't publish reviews. Photographic illustrations are welcome but please bear in mind there is no budget for this.
 
Backpages strives for a greater degree of immediate, topical engagement than is usual in academic drama publishing, and aims to present a more expansive view on theatre and performance than is usually offered in general review-based print and digital media.
 
The current editor of Backpages, Caridad Svich, is happy to correspond about any aspect of Backpages at csvich21@aol.com. Drafts and ideas for articles can also be sent to any member of the Backpages editorial team, Karen Fricker, David Greig, Chris Megson, Aleks Sierz, and Ken Urban.

The Book Reviews section (edited by Dominic Johnson) publishes critical engagements with the most significant new books in the fields of contemporary theatre and performance. The aim is to provide, in the space of an 800–1000-word review, an authoritative, challenging and sometimes provocative survey of important contributions to the field. The longer review article – in which one or more books become the occasion for a wider discussion of issues in contemporary theatre – is also a regular feature of the section. For further information or suggestions of books to review contact Dominic Johnson at d.f.johnson@qmul.ac.uk. 

Peer Review Policy: All research articles published in this journal have undergone rigorous peer review, based on initial editor screening and anonymized refereeing by at least two anonymous referees.

Disclaimer for scientific, technical and social science publications: Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in its publications. However, Taylor & Francis and its agents and licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness or suitability for any purpose of the Content and disclaim all such representations and warranties whether express or implied to the maximum extent permitted by law. Any views expressed in this publication are the views of the authors and are not the views of Taylor & Francis.