Michel Vaïs

Michel Vaïs is editor, free-lance journalist and translator. He got his doctor degree in Theatre Studies (Paris 8). He taught as a profesor for 12 years in three universities. He has been writing critics in Montreal dailies for 21 years. He is the editor of the journal Revue de théâtre Jeu and author of L’écrivain scénique (PUQ, 1978), L’accompagnateur. Parcours d’un critique de théâtre (Varia, 2005). Since 1998 he has been working as a secretary general of the International Association of Theatre Critics. He is director of Dictionnaire des artistes du théâtre québécois (JEU/Québec Amérique, 2008).

Michel Vaïs’s contribution, "The Critic - A Mediating Companion" (Le critique: un accompagnateur intervenant), examines various functions performed by the critic. Vaïs shows how various new functions have become included in the traditional understanding of critical activity. By advising on artistic issues, serving on award juries and recommending performances, a theatre critic influences the international dissemination of theatre performances and indirectly intervenes in the production and distribution of stage arts. Vaïs examines whether and how these roles complement each other, while observing that they are not necessarily clashing. He attributes special significance to the ethical code of the Quebec Theatre Critics Association (1988), which influenced the IATC/AICT "Code of Practice" adopted at the congress in Erevan in 2010.