An upcoming University of Queensland public lecture will take you back to the drama of the early seventeenth century as it explores cultural geography in William Shakespeare’s and Ben Jonson’s theatres.
Professor Julie Sanders, from The University of Nottingham, will present the 2009 Lloyd Davis Memorial Lecture “Making Space in Shakespeare and Jonson” on August 18, at the Duchesne College Dining Room, St Lucia Campus, from 6pm.
Professor Sanders will use Shakespeare’s Falstaff plays and Ben Jonson’s Epicene, The Magnetic Lady and The New Inn to examine the way both dramatists represented space on stage, and how their plays invited audiences to produce space.
“I have become fascinated with the reasoning behind both playwrights’ inclusions of scenes involving everyday figures of labour – ostlers, post carriers, inn and tavern workers, water carriers etc – that have less to do with the plot than with creating a social context for the world of the play,” she said.
“I am trying to look at the ways that Shakespeare and Jonson created an idea of place and space both from the physical fabric of the theatres that they were writing for and through the engagement of audience imagination.
“To do this I am looking at often neglected scenes in plays by Shakespeare such as Henry IV Part I and The Comedy of Errors and Jonson’s The New Inn and The Case is Altered.
“My interest in ideas of space is a reflection of my current research on ideas of cultural geography in literature and in particular in the drama of the early seventeenth century."
Professor Sanders is a distinguished scholar with publications in the areas of Shakespeare studies, Shakespearean Adaptations/Appropriations and Jonson studies and teaches in English literature and drama.
The University of Queensland established The Lloyd Davis Memorial Visiting Professorship in 2006 in memory of Associate Professor Lloyd Davis.
To RSVP to the free public event call (07) 3365 2593 or email admin@emsah.uq.edu.au. Bookings are essential.
Media: Professor Sanders (Julie.Sanders@nottingham.ac.uk) or Eliza Plant at UQ Communications (07 3365 2619)
