Seminar No. 1.3.

Title: Staging the Stranger.

Leaders:

Carol Chillington Rutter (University of Warwick, UK)
Boika Sokolova (University of Sofia, Bulgaria)

Participants:

Alexey Bartoshevitch (State Institute of Arts Research, Moscow)
Niels Bugge Hansen (University of Copenhagen)
Clara Calvo (University of Murcia)
Nicoleta Cinpoes (University of Warwick)
Anthony B. Dawson (University of British Columbia)
Stuart Hampton-Reeves (University of Central Lancashire)
Helen Ostovich (McMaster University)
Sue Tweg (Monash University)
Tony Voss (University of Natal)

Abstract:

On the 'Typus Regionum' illustrating Lucan's Pharsalia, Britannia hugs a corner. The map's centre spreads out the
Mediterranean, and names roll off it like stops on Othello's travels: Libya, Mauritania, Nasamonia; then Troy, Athens,
Illyria, Venice. Cyprus stands opposite Alexandria; Rome, in line with Carthage. The Mediterranean, from little Britain's
marginal position, maps the civilized world, but also maps the 'other', the 'antres vast and deserts idle' where desire and
fear play out dark fantasies. This seminar will investigate the representation of strangeness -- cultural, racial, political -- in
performance on Shakespeare's stage. And how do contemporary productions on international stages perform 'otherness'?