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Researching Popular Performances

Researching Popular Performances is a series of public talks and discussions led by researchers in the Department of Performing Arts at the University of Winchester. They are held at the Theatre Royal Winchester alongside the theatre’s spring programme. Most of the talks are scheduled as pre-performance events, though attendance at the performance is not necessary to enjoy the talk. Each talk is thematically related to the performance in the season that it prefaces, but it is not about that specific performance. The series also includes post-show Q&A sessions, for which attendance at the performance is necessary.

The pre-show talks are free and are held in the Garden Room of the Theatre (behind the box-office). All are welcome.

15th December 2011 – 5pm
'James Barry & Millie Taylor in Conversation'
The first event in the inaugural Researching Popular Performances lecture series at the Theatre Royal Winchester will be a conversation between James Barry – author and director of this year’s pantomime, Cinderella – and Millie Taylor – author of British Pantomime Performance.
Their conversation will highlight some recent developments in pantomime history, leading to a discussion of this year’s production of Cinderella at Winchester Theatre Royal.
27th January 2012
6pm pre show talk and post show discussion with the cast and dramaturg.
'Mobility in the Contemporary World and Immigrant Identities'
Dr Marilena Zaroulia & Synne Behrndt
This talk will discuss the current experiences of border-crossing and mobility particularly in Fortress Europe and question whether and how contemporary performance addresses the uneven developments and distributions of population in the contemporary world.
7th February 2012 Post Show
'Paper Birds Q&A'
Dr Marianne Sharp
‘There will be a chance to ask questions of the cast of ‘Thirsty’ in a post-show Q&A session, chaired by Marianne Sharp (University of Winchester)’.
8th March 2012- 6pm
'All the world onstage: Globalisation and theatre'
Dr Marilena Zaroulia
The talk will focus on recent examples from British and European theatre/performance that address the challenges of globalisation, focusing particularly on playwrights’ and theatremakers’ vision of a different world, beyond the dominance of global capitalism.
11th March 2012 - 4pm
'Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies, Twentieth-Century Actress'
Dr Helen Grime
Like Joyce Grenfell, the actress Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies (1891-1992) was a hugely popular performer in her day. This talk will give an overview of Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies’ long and fascinating career and consider her place in twentieth-century theatre history, drawing some parallels between the two performers.
13th March 2012 - 6pm
'Rattigan pre-show talk'
Dr Helen Grime
Rattigan's women. Rattigan wrote women for women, inventing the fictional 'Aunt Edna' as his imagined audience, and indeed his complex female characters have enduring appeal. This talk will consider some of Rattigan's intriguing female characters and suggest connections with his experience as a gay man in the mid-twentieth century.
28th March 2012 – 6pm
'Godot, Clowning and Tristan Remy'
Dr Richard Cuming
Drawing on sixty circus clown entrees (‘numbers’), from 1890 - 1950 which the French circus historian Tristan Remy transcribed and published in his book Entrees Clownesques (1962), this paper analyses both the typology of the troupes and the borrowing of material by clowns. It then proceeds to consider the use Beckett makes of clown practices in Waiting for Godot (1954), which Seaver refers to as ‘… Pascal’s Pensées as played by the Fratellini clowns’ (1976: xxxviii).
20th April 2012 – 6pm
'Telling Stories in Musical Time'
Dr Millie Taylor
Time is relative, especially in any form of musical theatre. Narrative time can appear to move faster or stand still, multiple actions can be linked in a single moment or a single moment can be expanded to reveal inner psychology. All these can result from the pace, signification and structures of music. These ideas will be discussed using examples from opera and musical theatre.
25th April 2012 - 6pm
'Animals in the Theatre'
Dr Marianne Sharp
‘This talk will focus on the presence of animals in the theatre - real and imagined - and will explore the different kinds of ethical questions that are raised by the presence of non-human creatures in performance. It will include a number of examples of theatre works where humans transform into animals and compare these with works where real animals are present in the theatre'.
31st May 2012 - 6pm
'Show/Home: Performance and the Domestic'
Philip Stanier, MPhil
It is said that 'Every Englishman's home is his castle', but the home is also our most longstanding and intimate Theatre and Performance venue. This talk will explore the rich history of Artists who have used the home as either the subject matter or the very site of their performances.
6th June 2012 – 6pm
'Mary Shelley and the Gothic'
Dr Helen Grime and Dr Gary Farnell
Panel discussion on Mary Shelley and her work.
This panel discussion will draw together ideas about the gothic, the legacy of Frankenstein and consider the variety of stage presentations of Mary Shelley and her work.

The Arts & Big Society - 'Sticking Plaster or Resistance?' The Politics of Arts' Interventions in Health contexts

This two hour seminar will open with a key note speaker who will frame the themes of the event. This will be followed by short inputs from Arts practitioners and academics working at The University of Winchester.

They will offer critiques of arts’ work related to health and well-being contexts and reflect on the challenges facing their work in the current economic and politcal climate. Attendees will be invited to join the debate and share aspects of their own work.

Arrive 5pm for light refreshments for a 5.30pm start
RSVP by 8 February to: Elizabeth.Scott-Hall@winchester.ac.uk

Song Stage Screen V Interdisciplinary approaches to 'Voice' in Music, Theatre and Film

3-5 September 2010 - The University of Winchester, Hampshire, UK

Community Arts in Higher Education Inclusive practice, International perspectives

5-16 April 2010 - The University of Winchester, Hampshire, UK