Seminar Series: Performance Lost (and Found)
Seminar Series: Performance Lost (and Found): Research and Practice in Times of Embodied Distancing
The series, organised by the Performance Research Network, aimed to provide a space to share our experiences and reflections on what has been lost (and perhaps, what has been found) during this difficult time of cancellations, postponement and delays.
You can see materials from this seminar series here: https://padlet.com/performancenetwork/xfq7micuee49z6c9
In this third seminar, Dr Tom Harrison discussed his involvement in Edward’s Boys’ production of Ben Jonson’s The Silent Woman (Epicoene), which was just about to embark on a UK-wide tour before the lockdown forced the company to cancel the project. Tom shared his reflections on the impact of cancelling a ‘live’ performance and on the effect this has had on his own research. The session aimed to explore what we might do to mitigate the threat of future lockdowns on live performance, so all participants were encouraged to participate in the pre-talk Padlet discussion, here: https://padlet.com/tomharrison1/ro5fibfqtimgjhs2
Dr Tom Harrison is Library Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities at the University of Edinburgh; Teaching Fellow in the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures at the University of Edinburgh; and Teaching Assistant at Newcastle University.
In this second seminar, Dr Kate Craddock presented her reflections on moving a theatre festival online. At a time of mass cancellation of arts events, and closure of cultural venues, Gateshead International Festival of Theatre (GIFT) was one of the first international festivals to move online during the pandemic. Kate offered insights into this decision, and reflections on subsequent discoveries.
Kate Craddock is Research Associate in SELLL, and Founder and Festival Director of GIFT, an artist led annual festival celebrating contemporary theatre.
ln this first event of the ‘Performance Lost (and Found)’ seminar series, playwright Emma Whipday talked about her postponed play, The Defamation of Cicely Lee.
The Defamation of Cicely Lee is a winner of the American Shakespeare Center’s Shakespeare’s New Contemporaries competition. Set in Corbridge in 1611, it is inspired by the true story of the maidservant Cicely Lee, who was accused of committing adultery with her master, and made a counter-accusation of rape. It puts Shakespeare’s Cymbeline in conversation with the concerns of #MeToo, and asks whose voices we value, and how telling our stories can build a more equal future. The Defamation of Cicely Lee was due to open at the American Shakespeare Center’s Blackfriars Playhouse on May 8th.
The session involved an informal reading of sections of the play.
Dr Emma Whipday is Lecturer in Renaissance Literature at Newcastle University, and a playwright.