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SETC Theatre Symposium Volume 21:
Ritual, Religion, and Theatre

The Abydos Passion Play. The Dionysian festivals. Yaqui deer dances. Maypole dances. Mystery plays and Noh drama. Theatre of Cruelty, Poor Theatre, Total Theatre. Whether or not theatre arose from ritual and/or religion, from prehistory to the present there have been intriguing connections among these types of human activities. The 2012 Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC) Theatre Symposium will focus on the varied connections, intersections, appropriations, and clashes between ritual, religion, and theatre. Possible topics:

• Historical uses of theatre by religious establishments
• Religious opposition to theatre
• Ritual in performance studies
• Performance in ritual studies
• Worship in or as performance
• Performance in or as worship
• Clashes between organized religion and theatrical practice
• Use or understanding of theatre by specific religious, social or cultural traditions (such as Islam)
• Etc.

Research on both Western and non-Western ritualistic, religious, and theatrical practice and traditions is welcomed.

The Symposium will be held at University of North Carolina at Wilmington, April 20-22, 2012. The keynote speaker will be Dr. Tom F. Driver, author of Liberating Rites: Understanding the Transformative Power of Ritual and the Paul Tillich Professor of Theology and Culture Emeritus at Union Theological Seminary in New York. Dr. Diver will also provide a conference response. Selected papers presented at the conference will be published in Volume 21 of SETC’s annual Theatre Symposium journal.

Please send one-page abstracts by January 25, 2012, to wallacebert@campbell.edu. Please use “LastName TS Abstract” as your subject line. Abstracts should include complete contact information (snail mail, email, phone).

Please contact Bert Wallace, Editor, at wallacebert@campbell.edu or 910.814.4328 with any questions. Thank you.