Practising Shakespeare: new collaborations, expanding horizons
British Shakespeare Association Conference
Practising Shakespeare: new collaborations, expanding horizons
25-28 June 2025, University of York
Call for Panels, Papers, Roundtables, and Seminar Enrolment: Deadline 14 February 2025
For more information: https://www.britishshakespeare.ws/conference/
The complex relationship between text and performance is uniquely felt in Shakespeare Studies, and has been continuously reconstituted and reframed. Meanwhile, academic study and practice (both professional and amateur) often run in parallel but separate streams - a phenomenon often reinforced by handbooks on how to ‘do’ Shakespeare. These advocate resisting 'academic analysis' in favour of 'exercises and approaches that can aid the acting and directing process', a position which risks placing the two into an antagonistic relationship. Yet despite this apparent impasse, explorations which move across and between the spheres of research, practice and pedagogy have demonstrated the rich potential of collaboration and sharing approaches to early modern drama. As Shakespeare and his contemporaries continue to be explored and reinvented on stage, screen and new media, we ask what new horizons might Shakespeare Studies look towards in performance and practice? What challenges, by placing practice and performance as a central focus, must we confront, problematise, or solve when working with Shakespeare and his contemporaries? How might we continue and develop productive conversations and collaborations between teaching, practice and research?
Keynote speakers include: Emma Whipday (University of Newcastle), Abigail Rokison-Woodall (Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham), and theatre director Amy Leach (Leeds Playhouse)
And a special performance by Edward’s Boys