2017-2018

News Release

REF NO.: 131

SUBJECT: Brave New Worlds: Shakespeare in Newfoundland and Labrador

DATE: September 12, 2017

Brave New Worlds, a project curated by Dr. Rob Ormsby, Department of English, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, and in partnership with the Queen Elizabeth II Library, Cupids’ Perchance Theatre, the St. John's Arts and Culture Centre and the Newfoundland Quarterly, is exploring the history of Shakespeare in this province.

From as early as the 19th century, professional and amateur actors have performed Shakespeare’s work in Newfoundland and Labrador. Since then, The Bard's plays have become a staple in festivals and theatres all across the province.

The project, funded by Memorial's Public Engagement Accelerator Fund, will include an exhibition, an electronic catalogue of the exhibition and a two-day symposium.

The exhibition will run from mid-September to mid-October in the Queen Elizabeth II Library and early October in the St. John’s Arts and Culture Centre. Costumes, posters, photographs, props and books — all of which are connected to performances that have taken place right here in the province — will be on display.

The symposium of artists, scholars and archivists will take place on Saturday, Sept. 30, and Sunday, Oct. 1, from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. on Memorial’s St. John’s campus, Arts and Administration building, room 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 other theatre companies.

The exhibition catalogue will be published electronically by the library on the 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.

All events are free and open to the public.

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