Welcome to the July 2018 edition of our School of English and Drama newsletter.
Photo above is from the Women’s Voices in Parliament event in the Octagon on 13 June 2018. This was Lise Olson’s provocation on finding your authentic voice. Photo by Debbie Bragg.
Events
BOOK AHEAD
Show and Tell
Wednesday 5, 12, 19 and 26 September 2018
18:00-20:00
Arts One Lecture Theatre, QMUL – Mile End
Inspiring TED style talks from top speakers from the arts and humanities aimed at young people aged 16-19, incoming Queen Mary students and teachers.
HIGHLIGHTS FOR JULY
Asking for a Raise
Tuesday 3-Saturday 7 July 2018, 19:30
The Space, Isle of Dogs
Drama graduates Franciska Ery and Hugo Aguirre present their ‘verbose cyclical comedy ‘ about an office worker who dares to ask their boss for a raise.
Handle with Care
Friday 6 July 2018, 19:00-23:00
Wellcome Collection, Euston
A free late event at Wellcome Collection around care featuring our very own Lois Weaver, Maggie Inchley and Daniel Oliver, associate artists Stacy Makishi and MA graduates, Mary Osborne and Emma Moller.
The Refugee Tales
Wednesday 11 July 2018, All day
Various locations
The Refugee Tales, which campaigns against indefinite immigration detention holds an annual walk in solidarity with refugees, asylum seekers and detainees. The walk, which is in collaboration with people who have experienced the UK asylum system, aims to reclaim the landscape of South East England for the language of welcome.
Taking Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales as a model, the walk is punctuated by contributions en route by writers. On 11 July the walk comes to east London. At Cable Street, Nadia Valman (English) will give a talk on the Battle of Cable Street, and at QMUL, the writer Iain Sinclair will give a lecture called ‘What the world is telling us. And why we won’t listen.’ (Wednesday 11 July, 12 noon, Arts Two Lecture Theatre).
Much Ado About Nothing + Shakespeare Beyond Borders
29-31 July 2018
Venice
The Centre for Global Shakespeare, in collaboration with Ca’Foscari University, Venice and the Venice Shakespeare Company, is staging a directorless production of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing in Venice from 29-31 July. The cast includes professional actors from Australia, Italy, the UK, Germany, South Africa and the USA. The performances will be accompanied by a symposium on Shakespeare Beyond Borders on 30 July, which aims to bring practitioners and academics together in mutual conversation. There is still space to take part in the symposium. Tickets to the performance are free for participants. Please contact David Schalkwyk at d.schalkwyk@qmul.ac.uk for further information.
FURTHER AHEAD
Rosie Vincent: London is Vomit
Friday 3 August 2018, 18:45
Rich Mix London
As part of Rich Mix TAKEOVER, Drama graduate Rosie Vincent is regurgitating her ongoing photography project into a new performance. Comprised of over 200 photographs, London is Vomit continues to explore the sickness of the city whilst celebrating the resilience and endurance of the urban body.
News from the School
Isabel Rivers (English) has written a post on the Ecclesiastical History Society blog discussing Vanity Fair and the Celestial City: Dissenting, Methodist, and Evangelical Literary Culture in England 1720-1800.
David Wright (Drama technician)’s work in our motion capture studio was mentioned in this piece in the Guardian about Celestial Motion: a virtual dance with the stars.
Dominic Johnson (Drama) has been awarded The TaPRA Prize for Editing (Edited Collection or Special Issue) 2017 alongside collaborator Dee Haddon for their book It’s all Allowed: the Performances of Adrian Howells (Live Art Development Agency and Intellect, 2016).
Tiffany Watt Smith (Drama) was on Radio 3’s Free Thinking talking about love-sickness with clinical psychologist and author Frank Tallis. Listen here
Moa Johansson (Drama graduate) has been interviewed by To Do List on her performance tonight is the night baby and forever (but no recycling) at Paper Dress Vintage on 3 July. Read the interview here
Sarah Whitfield (Drama PhD Graduate) is launching her book Boublil and Schönberg’s Les Misérables on 23 July 2018.
People’s Palace Projects (Arts Organisation based at QMUL) update
The Verbatim Formula (pictured above) At the beginning of July, 14 young people from the borough of Wandsworth worked for a full weekend at Battersea Arts Centre together with Professor Maggie Inchley (Drama), Sylvan Baker and Sadhvi Dar (Business and Management) using verbatim techniques to make a performance that shares their experience of care services.
Stage 3 People’s Palace Projects’ new student theatre company at QMUL will be performing Stage 3, an immersive theatre experience that will involve the young people* in the Tafahum project in Tower Hamlets as participants. The production looks at the bureaucracy and power of the naturalisation system.
*Tower Hamlets A Team Arts participants, Youth Parliament, and youth in Tower Hamlets.
Two events on campus People’s Palace Projects also hosted a symposium Policy in Cultural Relations and also a Contemporary Narrative Lab. They’re partnering on the latter with the Financial Times, via journalist Robin Kwong, and Battersea Arts Centre to form a collaborative research project involving academics, artists, researchers and journalists.
Read more about these projects
Links
1. Wasafiri New Writing Prize deadline is next Friday.
2. Jen Harvie (Drama) reviewed ‘Fun Home’ on the BBC Radio 3 programme ‘Free Thinking’. The musical explores family, memory and sexuality and is currently running at the Young Vic in London. Listen here
3. Drama graduates Figs in Wigs are doing a private sharing of their adaptation of Little Women, called Little Wimmin’ on Friday 6 July at Battersea Arts Centre.
4. Kathleen McCarthy (School of Languages, Linguistics and Film) has organised this launch event of short films in the Octagon at Queen Mary as part of a project to promote heritage language use, as well as reconnect and increase cultural awareness across generations within the London Bangladeshi community. Find out more
