Dr. Jonathan Shandell, co-director of Arcadia University’s Theater Department, has been appointed the editor of the peer-reviewed journal, Theater Annual: A Journal of Theater and Performance of the Americas.

As editor, Shandell will support the 2026 and 2027 issues of Theater Annual by soliciting authors, evaluating submissions, and finding and assigning peer reviewers for each piece submitted. He will also collaborate with authors on revisions to their articles, proofread the full issue, and prepare the journal’s manuscript for publication.

“This appointment is a nice honor from the wider community of theater scholars,” Shandell said. “It’s also an exciting opportunity for me to help support other scholars develop new research on the American theater and to help shape the field of American theater scholarship in the years to come.”

The journal focuses on publishing articles that inform readers on the history and ethnography of theatrical performances in fields such as theater studies, performance studies, music, anthropology, dance, philosophy, popular culture, folklore, history, communication, and cross-disciplinary areas of interest. 

Shandell is no stranger to Theater Annual, as his article, “Snatching the Bull Whip: Ossie Davis’s Purlie Victorious as Revolutionary Comedy in Disguise,” was featured in Theater Annual 76 in 2023.

Theater Annual is America’s oldest, continuously published theater journal. The Theater Library Association founded the journal in 1942, and it has since been published annually in the fall by the College of William and Mary in Virginia.