Good Afternoon Everyone,
This is Molly Zeigler live-blogging Colloquy Session XIII: History and Culture for the 2013 Blackfriars Conference on Thursday 10/25 at 2:30 pm. Today’s colloquy is being held at the Staunton Performing Arts Center’s (S.P.A.C.E.) location at 107 West Beverley here in Staunton. Thank you to the Staunton Performing Arts Center for hosting today’s event.
This Colloquy is exploring representations of and the impact of history and culture in and on performance and interpretation of Early Modern dramatic works.
Chair: James Byers
Presenters: Michelle Blas; Elizabeth Kelley Bowman; Elizabeth Floyd; Louise Geddes; Stephanie Howieson; Matthew Kendrick; Marie Knowlton-Davis; Megan Lloyd
This colloquy took on an informal conversational style from the beginning. Each presenter introduced their work and invited questions and feedback from the audience and from their fellow panel members (the following paragraphs represent initial introductions and feedback). Each panel member came prepared, having already read each other’s work.
Michelle Blas and Elizabeth Kelley Bowman are both from the University of Guam. They spoke about a recent production of The Tempest that they mounted in Guam. Shakespearean productions are rare in Guam. What was of interest was how the audience engaged with the colonial themes and representations in the text and performance. The audience was made up of individuals both native and non-native to Guam. The Caliban and Ariel in this production were represented as avatars of native people and “native spirits.” This production explored tensions between ‘conquered and conquerors.’ Guam, as a setting, provoked its own conception as an island that has been under the rule of a variety of colonizing entities (currently an American territory). In this production Ariel is native to the island, a “true native,” and she (a female here) remains at the end of the story.
Stephanie Howieson is a member of the Rogue Shakespeare MBC MFA Company. She portrayed Duncan and the porter in the Rogues’ recent production of Macbeth. Her paper “Demons of Faustus and the Witches of Macbeth” seeks to explore the representations of the demons and witches in these plays and their interaction with the respective lead characters. It is oft put forth by critics that Macbeth begins his play already overly ambitious. Ms. Howieson’s work seeks to trouble this assumption about Macbeth’s characterization: There is no textual support for the idea. What role did these figures – witches and demons – play in these works? How much do such figures engage with and influence the non-spiritual/non-ethereal characters? One way into these works is to consider how demons and witches and how ambition and drive were perceived in the Early Modern period.
Elizabeth Floyd’s work is focused on the Henriad (RII-H5) and specifically on how the character of Henry V has been portrayed at different times throughout history. At different points in English history, Henry V has been presented as a hero, as a bit of a rake, as an ambivalent character, and as a consummate performer (among other representations). Ms. Floyd’s work examines the production history of Henry V from 1723-2012. At times of war and peace throughout this time period the representation of Henry V as changed in relation to respective social agendas and expectations.
The work, presented here, of Matthew Kendrick, out of New Jersey, is focused on The Knight of the Burning Pestle. Beaumont’s play was first performed in 1607. The work is a parody of chivalric romances and a satire of contemporaneous works such as Dekker’s Shoemaker’s Holiday. There is a sense of the ‘everyday’ and of the working classes in England. Mr. Kendrick’s work seeks to explore the relationship between the laboring community and the theatre.
James Byers’ work examines the representations of the Irish nationality in Early Modern drama. There is only a handful of characters in Early Modern English drama represented as Irish. Byers’ work seeks to trouble the limited representations of the Irish by exploring how they were possibly received by audiences (then and now) and if said representations (often negative) are shaped by performance or cultural perception.
Louise Geddes is out of Adelphi University. Her work examines the relationship between city drama and the figure of Margaret Thatcher in the zeitgeist. Thatcher located a sensibility to the working classes as a weakness. Thatcher was certainly “no friend of the arts.” City dramas seek to explore “damage” at a local and personal level. Jacobean drama appears classical so its performance may well seem to fit within a traditional paradigm, but it is because of this perception that such plays can operate within the culturally hegemonic sphere as burrs or rebellious entities and cultural critiques.
Marie Knowlton-Davis’ work is focused on Friar Laurence (R&J, of course). She views the character as a “duplicitous antagonist” and a “lapsed Catholic” representing the tensions between Catholicism and Protestantism. Friar Laurence’s representation also exceeds this religious characterization because of his use of natural/spiritual elements. His complicated nature provokes study and attention. Marie Knowlton-Davis runs a summer youth theatre program and is interested in mounting a production of Romeo and Juliet in the near future wherein the character of Friar Laurence will be explored and developed in depth.
Megan Lloyd’s work is focused on the Lord Chamberlain’s Men and their delivery of the ‘St. Crispin’s Day’ speech from Henry V. Of particular interest is how Kempe’s leaving the Chamberlain’s Men may have impacted the meaning and reception. Her work examines the idea that Early Modern troupes are or are not ‘bands of brothers’ – how close are they? The possible relationships can be examined by looking at the works and their portrayals and receptions, and by looking at the actual make-ups and changes within the structure of the companies.
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It was a pleasant afternoon and discussion.