Gregory Doran, Kwame Kwei-Armah & Nicholas de Jongh Among Highlights of STR 2010 Lecture Programme

 

The Society for Theatre Research (STR) are pleased to continue their exciting Lecture Programme later this month, which includes free events through to May 2010 all open to the public. Programme highlights include Gregory Doran (Associate Director, Royal Shakespeare Company) discussing directing Shakespeare; award-winning playwright and actor Kwame Kwei-Armah discussing contemporary Black British drama and the Playwright's Relationship to Heritage, Representation and Legacy; and the annual address, which will this year be given by former Evening Standard theatre critic and playwright Nicholas de Jongh. Full programme details are as follows:

Pyramus, You Begin: Directing Shakespeare:

21 January 2010, 7.30pm. Presented by Gregory Doran.  Gregory Doran, Chief Associate Director at the  RSC,  will, if  his other  commitments  permit,  repeat his presentation of  Pyramus, You  Begin previously given to the STR in Bristol in April 2009.

Singing, Dancing Subordinate Boys: The Male Chorus In West End Revue And Musical Comedy:

16 February 2010, 7.30pm. Presented by Dr David Lawrence. While a great deal has been written about chorus girls, far less has appeared regarding chorus boys. This lecture attempts to redress the balance by discussing the delights and difficulties of being a West End chorus boy in the early twentieth century C.1900 - 1936.

James Winston & The Theatric Tourist - An Unfinished Symphony:

10 March 2010, 7.30pm. Presented by Dr David Wilmore. David Wilmore is currently researching the James Winston papers which specifically relate to the unfinished Theatric Tourist. This lecture willprovide an opportunity for members to see the many images that have been scattered around the world; in Harvard, Sydney, Birmingham - to mention but a few.

Changing Your Nation And Changing Your Station: The Playwright's Relationship To Heritage, Representation And Legacy:

22 March 2010, 7.30pm. Discussion between Kwame Kwei-Armah, Michael Bhim and Dr Deirdre Osborne.This discussion will focus upon the transformations of perception wrought by 'changing your nation and changing your station,' which draws on history, the present and the reception abroad of contemporary dramatists and the ways in which they seek to project their work beyond the UK.

 

NB. This event takes place at the National Theatre Archive, NT Studio 83-101 The Cut London SE1 8LL.

Stephen Joseph Versus The Establishment:

20 April 2010, 7.30pm. Presented by Paul Elsam. The Pat Forster Memorial Lecture. The focus for this lecture will be theatre manager Stephen Joseph's relationship with 'the Establishment' during his adult life within British professional theatre. Drawing on fresh archival and oral history research, Paul Elsam will be examining public and private disagreements between Joseph and members of the so-called Establishment.

The Annual Address

18 May 2010, 8.15pm. Presented by Nicholas de Jongh.  Nicholas de Jongh retired in 2009 from the post of  chief theatre critic for the  London  Evening  Standard, a position which he had held since 1991.  As he has  never been one to  mince  his words,  we can expect a  lively and  controversial evening in his company.

 

All events - except the 'Changing Your Nation' discussion on 22 March (indicated above) - are usually held at the Art Workers' Guild, 6 Queen's Square, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 3AT. No prior booking is required and refreshments will be available. For full programme details, please visit the Society's website at: www.str.org.uk.

The Society for Theatre Research (STR) was founded in 1948 to encourage research into past and present British theatre practice. It is the oldest society of its type in the English-speaking world, with a membership that is international. Its principal activities are publishing specialist theatre books and a thrice-yearly journal, Theatre Notebook; staging an annual programme of lectures and other events; answering enquiries and keeping a register of members' research interests. Every year it presents a series of awards to support research and a prize for the best theatre book.

The Society has also been actively involved in campaigns to save historic theatres and to preserve theatre memorabilia. Its successes include the setting up of the International Federation for Theatre Research in 1955 and the insertion of a clause into the 1968 Theatres Act requiring all performed play-scripts to be deposited in the British Library. The Society's fight for an independent Theatre Museum lasted several decades and was rewarded in 1987 with its opening in Covent Garden. Although this display was subsequently brought back to the Victoria & Albert Museum in 2007, the Society retains a strong interest in the welfare of its collections and archive, part of which is its own considerable library.

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