Theatre at the ADC and Playroom

Lots of upcoming productions at the ADC and Corpus Playroom which will be of interest to members of the Reading Group:

• 'At Home at the Zoo', Corpus Playroom, 18-22 September
• 'The Physicists', Corpus Playroom, 9-13 October
• 'RIBS', ADC, 24-27 October  
• 'Mosquitoes', ADC, 13-17 November
• 'Photograph 51', ADC, 9-13 April

One-Day Colloquium - Theatrical Ecologies and Environments in the Nineteenth Century

Organised in conjunction with Nineteenth Century Theatre and Film

School of Theatre & Performance Studies and Cultural & Media Policy Studies
Millburn House, University of Warwick, CV4 7HS
Saturday 1 July 2017, 9am–6pm

All are warmly invited to attend this one-day colloquium on Theatrical Ecologies and Environments in the Nineteenth Century. Ecocriticism is a hot topic in both Theatre Studies and Nineteenth-Century Studies, yet the environment is still an under-examined area within nineteenth-century theatre circles. This symposium presents a series of panels and speakers addressing this topic from a wide range of perspectives.

Speakers and papers include:

• Kirsten Shepherd-Barr, 'Behind the Limelight: Theatre's Working Environment'
• Ann Featherstone, 'Sagacious Canines and Brave Brutes: Re-discovering the Victorian Dog-drama'
• Michael Gamer, 'Master Betty vs. Carlo the Wonder Dog: The Year of Child/Animal Actors'
• George Taylor, 'Stedman, Surinam and Theatrical Exoticism at the start of the Nineteenth Century'
• Cristina Fernandes Rosa, 'Nature, Ecology and Sustainability in Nineteenth-Century Ballet'
• Susan Anthony, 'Gothic Plays: Supernatural vs. Forces of Nature'
• Victoria Wiet, 'The Actress in Nature: The Environments of Artistic Development in Victorian Fiction and Life-writing'
• Katie Jarvis, 'Ecologies of Imperialism: Amazonian Waterlilies, Fairies and Inter-ecosystem Performance'
• Christina Vollmert, 'Staging Technology: The International Electrotechnical Exhibition in Frankfurt-am-Main, 1891'
• Evelyn O'Malley, '"Natural" Shakespeare in the Garden'
• Jiwon Min, 'The Melodramatic Ecology in Nineteenth-Century Theatre'
• Alexis Harley, 'Charles Lyell's Principles of Geology: the Geological Sublime and the Romantic Theatre'
• Victoria Garlick, 'The Broadhead Theatre Circuit: An Environmental Perspective'

The fee for this colloquium is £25 per person (reduced registration fee of £15 for PGRs), payable on the day. Lunches/refreshments will be provided; however, delegates are asked to arrange and cover the cost of their own travel and accommodation. Please note that the nearest train station to the campus is in Coventry. Link to registration, directions and accommodation details can be found at: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/theatre_s/staff/jim_davis/theatrical-ecologies-and-environments/. For further information about this event, please contact Patricia Smyth at P.M.Smyth@Warwick.ac.uk or Jim Davis at Jim.Davis@Warwick.ac.uk.


Theatrical Ecologies and Environments in the 19th Century

Recap - Ice

Our third meeting of term took to the Victorian stage and the Arctic wilderness as we discussed The Frozen Deep by Wilkie Collins (with significant input from one Charles Dickens). Simon and his cardboard cast gave a wonderful introduction to the play's influences (notably the 1845 Franklin expedition and the lost Erebus and Terror, the great mystery of which continued to fascinate audiences back in Britain), its writing, dramatis personae, and initially rapturous reception in 1856 (even the set's carpenters were weeping), before a failed attempt at a revival a decade later. Using clips from The Invisible Woman (a 2013 film), he reflected on the play's connections to the unconventional personal lives of both Collins and Dickens.

We went on to discuss several key themes of the play: we explored its presentation of the relationship between destiny and precognition, as epitomised in the striking visions (or 'Claravoyance') of a key character, and links to contemporary interests in spiritualism and clairvoyance (perhaps getting a bit more unfashionable by the mid-1860s?), or the drawing of lots between officers and men; we looked at the work's theatricality (for instance in its staged vision), its drama and melodrama, and how even though it is set in a larger Arctic landscape its acts present a series of three interlinked chamber pieces with quite domestic situations, and the intervening perils only alluded to through (characteristically clunky) expository monologues (with a hint of Monty Python, we thought?).

We thought about why the Artic setting might matter, or not? Was it just a conveniently fashionable location, or - with its connotations of peril, extremity, and isolation - did both supernatural phenomena seem closer to the surface, and also deeper emotions and motivations possible to access? The character of Richard Wardour, in particular, seemed key: was he, as Dickens's biographer Claire Tomalin suggested, an opportunity for Dickens to play a man who overcame his instincts to make a final great sacrifice? Was he someone with frozen emotions until galvanised by a particular situation, or hot-headed throughout? Indeed, we explored whether characters (the Dickens influence?) or plot (the Collins influence?) could be seen as the play's primary driving force.

Overall, a lively discussion and very helpful comments from all who attended: thanks to everyone! Next time we move off from the floating ice-sheets to submerge ourselves under the sea with two pieces by Rachel Carson.


Additionally:
Other songs, poems, etc., referred to in our discussion (with special thanks to the Canadians):





'The Cremation of Sam McGee' by Robert W. Service 

Simon's cardboard cast, as captured by Charissa.

5th June - Ice

Our next meeting will take place on Monday 5th June at Darwin College: we will be reading The Frozen Deep by Wilkie Collins.  Further reading is available here, or why not listen to an extract from its Overture here?

All welcome!

CFP - 'Theatrical Ecologies and Environments in the Nineteenth Century'

One Day Symposium
University of Warwick
Saturday, 1 July 2017
Millburn House
School of Theatre, Performance and Cultural Policy Studies

Ecocriticism is a hot topic in both Theatre Studies and Nineteenth-Century Studies, yet the environment is still an under-examined area within nineteenth-century theatre circles. This symposium aims to cultivate more work on this field of research pioneered by Baz Kershaw. Possible topics could include: ecological research in practical stagecraft (how nineteenth-century practitioners created sets, costumes, and effects to represent different environments), theater architecture (such as the Palais Garnier and its "lake" or the use of Thames water for hydraulic bridges and iron curtains), environmental theatre set in outdoor venues such as nineteenth-century pleasure gardens, site-specific theatre, the impact of Victorian theatre and early film on the environment, the creation of fantastical or alternative world environments (as in pantomime), the ecology of theaters (cityscapes, economic conditions, contagion), ecological themes or images within plays, plays invoking nature or the artifice of avoiding nature, theatrical connections to historical ecological movements, ecological links between theater and other arts, the ecology of performance, environmental adaptation (in terms of Linda Hutcheon's argument that adaptation from one medium to another is akin to biological adaptation), animal performers, human actors performing animals, the economic ecology of production (in terms of a Darwinian market selection), theatrical and early cinematic statements about the environment, theatre and world ecologies. There are myriad possibilities, and it is the aim of the symposium organizers to be inclusive.

We invite the submission of abstracts on any topic connected to Theatrical Ecologies and Environments in the Nineteenth Century. The symposium is curated by the editors of Nineteenth Century Theatre and Film: Professor Jim Davis, Dr Janice Norwood, Dr Pat Smyth and Professor Sharon Aronofsky Weltman.

Please submit abstracts for consideration to jim.davis@warwick.ac.uk by 1 May, 2017.

A dramatic experiment: science on stage

6:30 pm - 8:00 pm on Monday 11 May 2015

at The Royal Society, 6 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1

A Royal Shakespeare Company event, in partnership with the Royal Society


Why does the story of a scientist, or topic of science itself, make for a
compelling theatrical production?

Join us for an evening uncovering science-inspired theatre.

Our panel will discuss why science stories continue to attract and intrigue
writers and directors, and the claim that such plays oversimplify
scientific theory in the pursuit of an accessible and dramatic narrative.

Hear from Tom Morton-Smith, writer of the critically acclaimed RSC
production Oppenheimer, Professor John D. Barrow FRS, a cosmologist and
playwright, Dr Kirsten Shepherd-Barr, a scholar of science in the theatre,
and Professor Marcus du Sautoy OBE, broadcaster, writer and science
communicator

Chaired by Erica Whyman OBE, Deputy Artistic Director at the Royal
Shakespeare Company.

Tickets for this event can be purchased from the Royal Shakespeare Company

A limited number of tickets may also be available for purchase on the door

Doors open at 6pm

Details here.

UPDATE (20/5/15): Read an article by Kirsten about these issues here; and apparently video from the event is also available here.