Modern : Drama (Defining the Field)

[Ric Knowles]

Dear Candrama subscribers:

You are all invited to the major Modern:Drama conference announced below
through its almost-finalized program. The conference features major
figures in the field assessing the state of the discipline. The conference
is free of charge, though advanced registration is encouraged, and
graduate students in particular are encouraged to register for the
Graduate Student lunches with senior scholars.

Ric Knowles, Editor
Modern Drama*


MODERN : DRAMA                               defining the field
A CONFERENCE
May 5 - 7, 2000
Graduate Centre for the Study of Drama, University of Toronto

On the weekend of May 5th-7th, 2000, a gathering of invited leading scholars
in the field will assemble at the Robert Gill Theatre at the invitation of
the journal Modern Drama and the Graduate Centre for Study of Drama.  As we
enter a new century and a new millennium, the conference will venture to
reconsider the terms "modern," and "drama," to map the field of "modern
drama" studies, and to reconsider the mandate of the leading journal in
the field.

PRELIMINARY PROGRAM

Friday May 5th
1:00pm:  WelcomeDomenico Pietropaolo and Ric Knowles

1:30 - 3:00pm:  Why Modern Drama is Not Culture
Chair:  W.B. Worthen
Shannon Jackson, "Why Modern Drama is Not Culture:  Blindspots in
Literature, Theatre, and Cultural Studies"
Stanton B. Garner, Jr., "Physiologies of the Modern:  Zola, Experimental
Medicine, and the Naturalist Stage"

3:30 - 5:00pm:  The 'Other' Modern Drama
Chair:  Joanne Tompkins
Josephine Lee, "The 'Other' Modern Drama:  The Politics of Staging Racial
Formation"
Yan Haiping, "But a Local Phase of a World Problem:  the Making of Modern
Chinese Drama"

8:00pm:  Six Characters in Search of an Author, to be followed by a
reception

Saturday May 6th

9:00am:  Coffee

9:30 - 11:00am:  There Will Be No Plays
Chair:  Corinne Rusch-Drutz
Sue-Ellen Case, "Luminous Writing, Embodiment, and Modern Drama:  Mme
Blavatsky and Bertolt Brecht"
Adrian Kiernander, "'There will be no plays':  Physical Theatre and Modern
Drama in Australia"

11:30am - 1:00pm:  Race and Modern Drama
Chair:  TBA
Alan Filewod, "Modernity and Genocide:  Citing Minstrelsy in Postcolonial
Agitprop"
Harry J. Elam, Jr.,  "August Wilson and African American Drama"

1:00 - 2:30pm:  Lunchtime Sessions for Graduate Students (see below for
details)

2:30 - 4:00pm:  Disciplinary Disputes, Desires, and Other Anxieties
Chair:  Deborah Tihanyi
Loren Kruger, "Drama vs. Performance:  Disciplinary Disputes and other
Theatricals"
Ann Wilson, "Anxiety, Technology, and the Regulation of Desire"

4:30 - 6:00pm:  Modern as in Modernity
Chair:  Danielle Couture
Elin Diamond, "The 'Modern' in 'Modern Drama'"
David Savran, "The Haunted Houses of Modernity"

Sunday May 7th

9:00am:  Coffee

9:30 - 11:00am:  Gendering Modern Drama:  Anger and Before
Chair:  Maryanne Kaay
Susan Bennett, "Anger and Before"
Penny Farfan, "Women, Modernism, and Performance"

11:30am - 1:00pm:  Articulation, Punctuation, and Aesthetics
Chair:  Lisa Fitzpatrick
Robert Wallace, "Articulating the Colon:  The Performance of Punctuation"
Michael J. Sidnell, "Aesthetic Prejudice in Modern Drama"

1:00 - 2:00pm:  (In)ConclusionChair:  Jill Levenson
Wrap-up and open discussion, with Ric Knowles, Domenico Pietropaolo, Joanne
Tompkins, conference speakers and attendees


Lunchtime Sessions for Graduate Students:
For graduate students attending the conference, a special series of
(concurrent) lunchtime meetings has been arranged with several invited
speakers.  At this time, sessions have been confirmed with Susan Bennett,
Sue-Ellen Case, Elin Diamond, Adrian Kiernander and David Savran.  Spaces in
these sessions are limited to five students each, and pre-registration is
required; lunch will be provided.  For more information on registration and
availability, please contact
Lisa Fitzpatrick at moddrama at hotmail.com.

The conference is free of charge, and includes all papers, the lunchtime
sessions for graduate students, morning coffee and the reception on May 5th.
  For attendees who pre-register via e-mail, one complimentary ticket to the
May 5th performance of Six Characters in Search of an Author--directed by
Guillaume Bernardi, in a new translation by Domenico Pietropaolo--will be
provided.

Please note that conference participants and topics are subject to change.
To receive updates on the conference program, please contact the Conference
Administrators at moddrama at hotmail.com or visit our web site at
http://gradrama.sa.utoronto.ca and click on Modern : Drama Conference (note
that this is not a www address).

Modern : Drama ConferenceMay 5 - 7, 2000
Robert Gill Theatre
214 College St., 3rd floor
Toronto, ON    M5T 2Z9
Box Office:  978-7986
Conference Administrators:  Lisa Fitzpatrick, Corinne Rusch-Drutz, Deborah
Tihanyi
e-mail:  moddrama at hotmail.com
http://gradrama.sa.utoronto.ca
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