360°: Shakespeare in Global and Local Landscapes
In this cluster we approach Shakespeare as both a way of responding creatively to the contemporary world and as a way to create community and a context for learning.
In this cluster we approach Shakespeare as both a way of responding creatively to the contemporary world and as a way to create community and a context for learning.
In this cluster we approach Shakespeare as both a way of responding creatively to the contemporary world and as a way to create community and a context for learning. We will consider strategies of performance and pedagogy as tools to come to know the local landscape of the city of Philadelphia–and the particular terrain of its schools–and the global community of scholars and students of performance. In all of our work, we will pay particular attention to the landscape in crisis: the theme of the perturbed natural world in King Lear, the educational and social crisis of impoverished urban schools, and the crisis of the text in contemporary Shakespeare production.
Courses
This course, taught by Mark Lord, constitutes the intensive work of rehearsing and performing a full-length production of Shakespeare’s KING LEAR. Our production will be deeply invested in the theme of the perturbed environment of the play and its relation to contemporary global conditions and will constitute a ecological and feminist critique of the play. We will share our work with the Bryn Mawr community, with students at EM Stanton, and in a trip to an international location (TBD) where we will work in extreme climates and will visit with students and artists from that country.
Taught by Catharine Slusar. Focused on creating and collaborating, this praxis course examines how we access Shakespeare and make Shakespeare accessible while working with 8th graders: a demographic that frequently has had little to no exposure to Shakespeare or theatrical performance of any kind. We will work as performers, creators, directors, designers, mentors and audience members, using progressive classroom techniques and theatrical exercises while exploring King Lear as our primary text. This course will be collaborative, sharing ideas and working as an ensemble comprised of college students and 8th graders at the E.M. Stanton School in Philadelphia. We will share a performance of our work at E.M. Stanton and Bryn Mawr College.