"The Jouer Beckett/Performing Beckett project"

Paper presented at the Beckett Research Seminar of the Beckett International Foundation, University of Reading, Saturday, May 20th, 2017, 10am-4pm.

Abstract:

The purpose of the Jouer Beckett / Performing Beckett project, led by Dominic Glynn (Institute of Modern Languages Research) and Jean-Michel Gouvard (Université de Bordeaux-Montaigne), is to define to what extent is the interpretation of Beckett’s works determined by the performance conditions in the country where they are performed. What we’d like to do is to study the influence of several elements (cultural intermediaries on the reception of Beckett’s bilingual playwrights through analysis of directorial customs, actor training and acting practices, theatre management, institutional, financial and material resources, touring networks, audience demographics), in the aim to compare French elements with English ones. I will sum up some papers presented last March during our study days in Bordeaux, and announce the program of the next session, in October, in London.

Programme:

10.30-11.00: Professor Anthony Roche (University College Dublin), 'Beckett's Embers and the Death of the Father’.

11.00-11.20: Discussion

11.20-11.50: Professor Everett Frost (Emeritus, New York University), 'Darkness (In)Visible: Acoustic Scenography in Beckett’s Radio Plays and Other Drama'

11.50-12.10: Discussion

12.30-1.00: Matthew McFrederick (University of Reading), ‘“I spoke to Sam Last Night, He says it’s OK”: Pinter and Krapp’s Last Tape’

1.00-1.20. Discussion

2.20-2.50: Dr Emilie Morin (University of York) ‘Beckett’s Political Imagination’

2.50-3.10: Discussion

3.10-3.40: Professor Jean-Michel Gouvard (Université de Bordeaux), 'The Jouer Beckett / Performing Beckett project': for further details, click on this link.

3.40-4.00: Discussion and closing remarks.

Organization : Anna MacMullan