Brave New Worlds: Shakespeare in Newfoundland
Brave New Worlds: Shakespeare in Newfoundland and Labrador
O brave new world / That has such people in’t (Miranda, The Tempest)
Brave New Worlds is a project curated by Dr. Rob Ormsby in partnership with Memorial University’s Queen Elizabeth II Library, Perchance Theatre, the St. John's Arts and Culture Centre, and Newfoundland Quarterly exploring the history of Shakespeare in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Professional and amateur actors have been performing Shakespeare’s work in Newfoundland and Labrador as early as the 1840s. Since then, his plays have become a staple in festivals and theatres across the island.
This project, funded by an Accelerator grant from Memorial’s Office of Public Engagement, will include an exhibition, a catalogue of that exhibition, and a two-day symposium.
The exhibition will run from mid-September to mid-October, 2017 in the Queen Elizabeth II Library and from early October in the St. John’s Arts and Culture Centre. It will feature costumes, posters, photographs, props, and books – all of which are connected to performances that have taken place right here in the province.
The symposium of artists, scholars, and archivists will take place on September 30 and October 1, 2017 from 9am to 6pm at Memorial University (A-1043). Join us to hear stories and presentations from the artists responsible for the productions and academics who study the field. Presenters include Andy Jones, Greg Malone, Danielle Irvine, Aiden Flynn, Jenn Deon, Steve O’Connell, Pamela Morgan, and Marie Sharpe. The symposium will also feature performances by actors from Perchance Theatre, Shakespeare By The Sea, and elsewhere.
The exhibition catalogue will be published electronically by the Library on its Digital Archives initiative. The catalogue, which will be freely accessible to all, will contain dozens of entries from many of the symposium participants and a host of other artists and researchers. Combining scholarship and personal memories of theatre productions, it will be the first book-length publication on Shakespeare in Newfoundland and Labrador.
For more information please visit www.facebook.com/ShakespeareNL