The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 26.414 Wednesday, 16 September 2015
From: Tara Stubbs <
Date: September 15, 2015 at 11:44:06 AM EDT
Subject: Day School at Oxford on ‘Shakespeare Now’, 3 October
I’ve organised a Day School at Oxford University Department for Continuing Education on ‘Shakespeare Now’. It is of interests to academics, teachers, practitioners and many others interested in Shakespeare and adaptation up to the present day.
https://www.conted.ox.ac.uk/courses/details.php?id=Q200-302
Shakespeare Now
The wide success, and sheer volume, of performances and adaptation of Shakespeare’s works in recent years demonstrates their continued appeal. This is particularly important in light of the upcoming commemorations and celebrations to mark 400 years since Shakespeare's death in 2016. How have Shakespeare's works continued to inspire us for four centuries? This Day School brings together critics and practitioners to discuss the challenges of adapting and interpreting ‘Shakespeare Now’.
Description
Darren Ormandy’s talk The Hollow Crown considers key scenes in all four films termed together ‘The Hollow Crown.’ He will discuss not only their merits as performance and adaptation but also how these choices may be a reflection of our contemporary concerns. This will deepen students’ appreciation and enjoyment of ‘The Hollow Crown II’ when it is screened next year.
Brian Cheedle’s talk Shakespeare and Adaptation questions and considers how far productions engage imaginatively with the central action and with significant issues crystalized by the original Shakespearean text, whether it stimulates us to rethink our response to the work. It will give some body to the notions of imaginative engagement, central action and significant issues by considering Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood and Joss Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing.
Shakespeare and Women
Trevor Nunn recently defended the condemnation of his all-white War of the Roses by citing “historical verisimilitude”. Will the same argument women taking on the most sought after roles in our theatre history an occasional gimmick? Or can actresses like Maxine Peake and Harriet Walter and creatives such as the Donmar Warehouse and the emerging Smooth Faced Gentlemen prove that cross-gender casting is as much a right as racial equality casting and can offer equally challenging and fresh insights to Shakespeare’s work?
Speaker, Lizzie Hopley, spent most of last year as a Roaring Girl at the RSC. The season, featuring plays with a prominent central female role, was programmed in answer to criticism that not enough women were being featured in RSC productions of classic texts. Aside from these central roles, the men still far outnumbered the women in the Company. And none of the texts were by Shakespeare. As a one-off event, such seasons are great. But what happens when ‘women’s season’ is over?
In the Q&A session, Darren Ormandy will chair a discussion to include the following topics: the continuing popularity of Shakespeare’s plays; their potential to seem ‘dated’ or otherwise; the most important or significant productions in recent years; which plays are due a revival; and the ethics of race and gender within performance. Questions and comments from the audience are warmly encouraged.
Programme details
Being held at Rewley House
1 Wellington Square
Oxford
OX1 2JA
SATURDAY 3 OCTOBER 2015
9.30am Registration
10.00am Shakespeare and Adaptation
PROFESSOR BRIAN CHEADLE
11.15am Coffee/tea
11.45am The Hollow Crown
DARREN ORMANDY
1.00pm Lunch
2.00pm Shakespeare and Women
LIZZIE HOPLEY
Dr. Tara Stubbs
University Lecturer in English Literature
Director of Studies in English Literature and Creative Writing, OUDCE
Member of the Oxford English Faculty
& Fellow of Kellogg College Oxford