 |
 |
The Leverhulme Talks on Theatre & Adaptation at Queen Mary, University of London
The
Leverhulme Olympic Talks on Theatre & Adaptation is a series of public
interviews with theatre and performance artists in the Department of Drama at
Queen Mary. Recent theatrical productions as diverse in form as
experimental performance, new writing, West End drama, musicals and live art
have shown a recurring fascination with adapting existing works by other
artists, writers, filmmakers and stage practitioners. The transition of an
existing source or stimulus to the stage – be it film, book, play, artwork, or
other performance – is not a smooth one. It implies negotiations of numerous
kinds, such as interlingual, intercultural, intersemiotic, intermedial, but
also ideological, ethical, aesthetic and political. Drawing on the array
of work making up the Cultural Olympiad and London's cosmopolitan performance
scene, the Talks will invite theatre practitioners and scholars of diverse
backgrounds to explore specific approaches to stage adaptation. Through a
programme of 10 events coinciding with the international aspirations of the
Games, we will reflect on performance’s near-obsessive desire to return,
repeat, rewrite and revisit, establishing a dialogue across languages and cultural
identities. Join us for an informal conversation, followed by questions
from the audience and a drinks reception.
All events take place from 6 to 8 pm at the Film and Drama Studio, Arts Two Building, Queen Mary, University of London, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS. Drinks receptions will follow.
Generously sponsored by the Leverhulme Trust, Queen Mary’s Drama Department and Olympic Programme.
Produced by Queen Mary's Drama Department in collaboration with AirSupply, http://supplyair.blogspot.com
Events are free but places are limited. Booking is essential, http://qmul.eventbrite.co.uk
For information, please do not hesitate to contact Dr Margherita Laera,
convenor of the Talks: [log in to unmask]
Tuesday 3rd April, 6-8pm: Julia Bardsley and Simon Vincenzi in conversation with Dominic Johnson
Dominic Johnson discusses the notion of adaptation, appropriation and re-enactment in performance with live artists Julia Bardsley and Simon Vincenzi. Projects under investigation will include Bardsley’s Medea: Dark Matter Events (2011) and Vincenzi’s The Infinite Pleasures of the Great Unknown (2008).
Info and booking: http://leverhulmeseries1.eventbrite.co.uk
Tuesday 24th April, 6-8pm: Romeo Castellucci of Socìetas Raffaello Sanzio in conversation with Nicholas Ridout
Nicholas Ridout
discusses the practice and processes of adaptation with director Romeo
Castellucci of Socìetas Raffaello Sanzio, Italy’s leading experimental theatre
company. Recent projects by SRS include The
Minister’s Black Veil (2011) from a short story by Hawthorne and a trilogy
inspired by Dante’s Divina Commedia
(2008).
Info and booking: http://leverhulmetalks2.eventbrite.co.uk
Tuesday 8th May, 6-8pm: Lois Weaver in conversation with Jen Harvie
Jen Harvie discusses subversive adaptations with artist and scholar Lois Weaver, whose work with Split Britches has investigated queer sexuality and political resistance by reworking canonical texts. Weaver’s productions include Beauty and the Beast (1982), Little Women: The Tragedy (1988) and Belle Reprieve (1990), based on Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire.
Info and booking: http://leverhulmetalks3.eventbrite.co.uk
Tuesday 15th May, 6-8pm: Katie Mitchell in conversation with Dan Rebellato
Dan Rebellato discusses stage adaptations with director Katie Mitchell, whose distinctive theatrical language combines elements of cinema and live performance in radical reinterpretations of the classics. Her recent productions include a version of Virginia Woolf’s The Waves (2006), a retelling of Dostoyevsky’s The Idiot (…Some Trace of Her, 2008) and a rewriting of Strindberg’s Miss Julie (2009) seen from the point of view of Julie’s servant, Kristin.
Info and booking: http://leverhumetalks4.eventbrite.co.uk
Tuesday 12th June, 6-8pm: Mohamed Kacimi and Colin Teevan in conversation with Sarah Grochala
Sarah Grochala discusses adaptation, translation and playwriting with writers Mohamed Kacimi and Colin Teevan. Kacimi has recently adapted Lebanese writer Rachid El-Daïf’s novel Meryl Streep Can Suit Herself (2008), while Colin Teevan is the author of Kafka’s Monkey (2009), an adaptation of Report to an Academy, and Monkey (2001), a version of Wu Cheng’en’s novel Journey to the West. Teevan has also translated Kacimi’s Holy Land for a reading at the National Theatre in 2009.
Info and booking: http://leverhulmetalks5.eventbrite.co.uk
Tuesday 19th June, 6-8pm: Helgard Haug of Rimini Protokoll in conversation with Margherita Laera
Margherita Laera discusses Rimini Protokoll’s adaptations with director Helgard Haug, one of the founding members of the German experimental theatre company. Recent productions include collectively-devised works featuring non-professional performers based on Kleist’s Herrmann’s Battle (2011), Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound (Prometheus in Athens, 2010), Karl Marx’s Das Kapital (2006) and Schiller’s Wallenstein (2005).
Info and booking: http://leverhulmetalks6.eventbrite.co.uk