Theatre Historians: who are we writing for?

Dear Friends,

We invite you to participate in a two-day symposium to be held on 18 and 19 March 2024 at the University of Warwick, focused on how and why our work as historians is read and valued. Our thinking behind what we hope will be an informal creative sharing of experience has developed out of a very successful one-day event held in Oxford in September which brought together different generations of theatre historians working within different UK institutional contexts. In September we debated the question ‘how do we position ourselves within the historical narratives that we construct?’ Out of that debate which foregrounded our personal standpoints and perspectives emerged another fundamental question which gets to the heart of what we do: ‘who are we writing for?’. Who welcomes and needs our work and why? In Warwick we would like to widen our gaze to think more internationally, mindful that the assumptions and pressures which impact on scholars in the UK may appear radically different in other cultural contexts, outside the Anglosphere for example, or within the Global South

The symposium has been timed to abut in Warwick with a mini-conference (20-21 March) organised under the auspices of TaPRA (Theatre and Performance Research Association) by the Theatre and Performance Histories Working Group and focused on the teaching of theatre and performance history. There will be shared themes and interests but the two events are separate and autonomous. See https://www.str.org.uk/teaching-theatre-and-performance-histories-mini-conference

We want to frame this meeting around a series of panels. Contributors would be expected to offer a brief position statement rather than a formal paper. Topics may include:

• Does the question of why engage with the past configure differently in different cultural contexts
• How do we tackle truth-telling, when attempting to engage our readers? Are there now identifiably different attitudes to scholarly rigour? How much does the perspective of our reader affect our concept of academic truth?
• Do I as a historian engage my reader by having a voice that is distinctively in my own, in order to trigger a sense of bonding, or do I win over my reader by convincing her that I am the objective voice of authority?
• The language of our readership. Whether or not to publish in English is an important decision for many. What kind of hierarchies are entailed here? And within English, is there a substantive gap between academic language and the vernacular?
• What is the place of the historian in the increasingly practice-oriented discipline of theatre/performance studies? Are there other ways of being a historian, beyond being a writer?
• The physical location of our readership. While locally-focussed historians may have a role in helping build community identities, others via the Internet may reach out to minoritarian but global identity groups. Within academia, there is a question about how disciplinary subcultures create a framework of unchallenged assumptions
• Science or art. Some historians may see their work as a branch of the social sciences, working objectively to identify patterns of cultural behaviour. Other historians (including many working outside the academy) may see themselves as, in the first instance, writers, telling stories that engage the emotions, imaginations, and moral consciences of their readers. So this is a question about the nature of ‘history’.
• Have we entered a post-theoretical phase liberating us to use the universal language of common sense? Or have we lost a shared set of intellectual references that allowed us to escape the confines of our discipline? Is ‘theory’ a western construct? Do we need different intellectual frameworks in order to engage constructively with readers in the Global South?
• We are driven by what publishers want, and publishers are driven by what they can sell. Is contesting market forces in itself a highly marketable activity? Online publishing has had profound effects on how we work.
• The generation question. When we write, we assume that our readers have a foundation of knowledge, a set of historical reference points to which we can connect our arguments. These reference points have never been static, but the pace of change has been increasing. So the question is, how we connect.
• The nation-state. For the past century, in many cases longer, our democracies and structures of academic funding have been framed around the nation state, and there has been a tendency for historiography to follow. Do we think of ourselves as writing for a global readership? Does that in fact mean a new kind of elite? More generally, how do we engage with the demands and sensitivities of diverse heritages?

The symposium will take place in the University of Warwick. There is no registration charge. Participants will be responsible for their own accommodation and purchase of meals. Accommodation is available on the campus https://bandb.warwick.ac.uk/. The nearest airport is Birmingham, nearest mainline station Coventry

If you’d like to come (as we hope you will), we’d appreciate a response (copied to both of us) as soon as convenient and in any case by 16 December, indicating which of the above topic or topics speaks most strongly to your current research so we can frame the panels

Claire Cochrane, University of Worcester

David Wiles, University of Exeter

Schedule THEATRE HISTORIANS: WHO ARE WE WRITING FOR...

18-19 March 2024

DAY 1. THEATRE HISTORIANS: WHO ARE WE WRITING FOR.....

• The generation question. When we write, we assume that our readers have a foundation of knowledge, a set of historical reference points to which we can connect our arguments. These reference points have never been static, but the pace of change has been increasing. So the question is, how we connect.

Ruthie Abeliovich, David Coates, Kate Dorney, Lydia Manley, Ernst Wolf-Dieter

• Nation and identity. For the past century, in many cases longer, our democracies and structures of academic funding have been framed around the nation state, and there has been a tendency for historiography to follow. Do we think of ourselves as writing for a global readership? Does that in fact mean a new kind of elite? More generally, how do we engage with the demands and sensitivities of diverse heritages?

Soudabeh Ananisarab, Priyanka Basu, Vicki Ann Cremona, Tancredi Gusman, Kate Newey, Ewa Partyga,

• Voice. Do I as a historian engage my reader by having a voice that is distinctively in my own, in order to trigger a sense of bonding, or do I win over my reader by convincing her that I am the objective voice of authority?

Michael Bachmann, Meryl Feiers, Kate Holmes, Mechele Leon, Willmar Sauter, Dorota Sosnowska

 DAY 2. …AND WHY?

• Science or art. Some historians may see their work as a branch of the social sciences, working objectively to identify patterns of cultural behaviour. Other historians (including many working outside the academy) may see themselves as, in the first instance, writers, telling stories that engage the emotions, imaginations, and moral consciences of their readers. So this is a question about the nature of ‘history’.

Hayley Bradley, Matt Franks, Sophie Nield, Catherine Quirk, Anna Sica, Berenika Szymanski-Düll

• Practice. What is the place of the historian in the increasingly practice-oriented discipline of theatre/performance studies? Are there other ways of being a historian, beyond being a writer?

Lucy Holehouse, Patrick Lonergan, Jo Robinson, Meike Wagner, David Wiles

6. Intellectual framework. Have we entered a post-theoretical phase liberating us to use the universal language of common sense? Or have we lost a shared set of intellectual references that allowed us to escape the confines of our discipline? Is ‘theory’ a western construct? Do we need different intellectual frameworks in order to engage constructively with readers in the Global South?

Claire Cochrane, Sarit Cofman-Simhon, Leo Kershaw, Rashna Nicholson, Trish Reid

Teaching Theatre and Performance Histories Symposium

TaPRA Theatre and Performance Histories Working Group

20-21 March 2024, University of Warwick

Nearly twenty years ago, Anne Fliotsos and Gail Medford remarked on the lack of attention our discipline pays to teaching: “it is one of the great ironies of theatre scholarship that what most of us do, few of us study” (1). Much has changed in the decades since, from the kinds of students that we teach to the ways that they learn. Scholars have begun to take pedagogy more seriously, publishing essays on how to teach musical, queer, and global-majority theatre and performance histories, for example (2). Nevertheless, we have few opportunities to come together and talk about our teaching. This symposium aims to provide an occasion for sharing and reflecting on how we teach theatre and performance histories today.

We invite 15-minute papers that respond to any aspect of this CfP from scholars and educators who teach any period of theatre and performance history. We’re especially open to alternative formats ranging from 5-minute provocations to 30-minute teaching demonstrations. As an output from this event, we’re considering developing the papers from this symposium into an edited collection.

Presentations might (but should not be limited to) addressing one or more of the following questions in relation to teaching theatre and performance histories:

• What does research-led teaching look like for us?
• How are we teaching dramatic literature in innovative ways?
• How are we decolonizing our curricula?
• How do we use practice in our teaching?
• What sorts of diverse assessment methods are we using?
• Are we using gamification to engage our students?
• How are we embedding skills development in our modules?
• What are the modules that we teach that work well?
• What best practices can we share for working with challenging materials?
• Did covid-19 provide new opportunities for approaches to teaching?
• How are we incorporating digital technologies in our teaching?
• In what ways is seeing live theatre engaging our students in histories?
• Do field trips enhance our practices?

Please send proposals to theatrehistory@tapra.org by 12 January 2024. In your proposal, please indicate your preference of format clearly, with a specific breakdown of any technical requirements. This symposium will be fully hybrid (in-person/online), and we are open to receiving proposals for online as well as in-person presentations.

Presenters will be notified about the outcome of their proposal by 17 January 2024.

As this is a symposium hosted by TaPRA’s Theatre and Performance Histories Working Group, there will be no registration fees, although presenters and attendees must be TaPRA members. If you are not currently a member, you will be able to join TaPRA for a small fee if your proposal is accepted for this event

We have limited funds to support bursaries for PG students who would not otherwise be able to attend. If you would like to be considered for these funds, please indicate this in your proposal.

References:

(1) Anne L. Fliotsos and Gail S. Medford, Teaching Theatre Today: Pedagogical Views of Theatre in Higher Education (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004).

(2) Stacy Wolf, “In Defense of Pleasure: Musical Theatre History in the Liberal Arts [A Manifesto],” Theatre Topics 17, no. 1 (2007): 51–60; Noe Montez and Kareem Khubchandani, “A Note from the Editors: Queer Pedagogy in Theatre and Performance,” Theatre Topics 30, no. 2 (2020): ix–xvii; Patricia Ybarra, “Gestures toward a Hemispheric Theatre History: A Work in Progress,” Theatre History Studies 39, no. 1 (2020): 123–39.

‘Teaching Theatre and Performance Histories’ TaPRA Theatre and Performance Histories Working Group

Wednesday 20 March 2024

 Draft Schedule

10am: Registration and Morning Refreshments

10:30am-12:00pm - Panel 1: Constructing Histories

Chair: Claire Cochrane (University of Worcester)

Priyanka Basu (King’s College London) Going Back to the Archives: Teaching Theatre-Performance Histories in between Accessibility and Inaccessibility

David Coates (University of Warwick) Experiencing the Archive: Gamification and Performing Histories

Marta Rosa (University of Lisbon) How to Engage Students? Sharing Difficulties and Strategies (Online)

Lorna Vassiliades (Queen Mary, University of London) Decolonising the Ethics Process

12-1 Lunch Break

1:00pm-1:45pm - Panel 2: Digital Pedagogies

Chair: Matt Franks (University of Warwick)

Will Shuler (Royal Holloway, University of London) Using Generative AI to Teach and Create Greek Tragedy

Ulla Kallenbach (University of Bergen) Analogue/Digital Theatre Histories

1:45pm-2:30pm - Panel 3: Historical Acting

Chair: Nick Holden (London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art)

James Harriman-Smith (University of Newcastle) What Would Garrick Do? Teaching Eighteenth-Century Theatre Speculatively

David Wiles (University of Exeter) Does the Art of Acting Need a History?

2:30pm-3:00pm – Tea and Coffee Break 

3:00-4:30 panel 4: Practical Approaches

Chair: Kate Dorney (University of Manchester)

Hayley Bradley (University of Manchester): Adaptation as Subject Matter and as Approach

Jan Wozniak (University of Bristol) ‘You haven’t done the reading? So what!?’ On Not Knowing in Teaching Clowning Histories

Dolly Sharma (School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London) Teaching Nautanki in a Classroom: Analysing the Segments to include in the Lesson Plan

Stefan Aquilina (University of Malta) Practice-based Theatre Histories (Online)

 4:30-4:45 – Comfort Break

4:45pm-5:30pm – Roundtable, Concluding Remarks and Future Plans

Locations of (Dis)embodied Labour in Theatre and Performance, Thursday 30 November 2023

Keynote Speaker: Professor Nicholas Ridout (Queen Mary University of London)

This interdisciplinary conference brings together scholars from around the world to explore themes of labour and body in the practices, theories, and histories of performance, covering topics such as the gendered perspectives of labour, aesthetics of labour, the agency of labouring bodies, theatre as work, etc. For the full programme please visithttps://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/scapvc/theatre/staff/yangzizhou/locationsoflabour2023/.

Registration for in-person and online attendance is open until 16 November 2023.