{"id":2643,"date":"2019-06-06T17:31:25","date_gmt":"2019-06-06T15:31:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/essenglish.org\/messenger\/?p=2643"},"modified":"2019-06-06T17:32:42","modified_gmt":"2019-06-06T15:32:42","slug":"conference-report-27th-cde-conference-fear-and-anxiety-in-contemporary-drama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essenglish.org\/messenger\/blog\/conference-report-27th-cde-conference-fear-and-anxiety-in-contemporary-drama\/","title":{"rendered":"Conference Report: 27th CDE Conference: Fear and Anxiety in Contemporary Drama"},"content":{"rendered":"

Conference Report: 27th<\/sup> CDE Conference: Fear and Anxiety in Contemporary Drama<\/h1>\n

May 31-June 3, 2018, University of Hildesheim<\/h2>\n

by Dr.\u00a0Julia Boll<\/strong>
\nCDE Secretary\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
CDE Universitaet Hildesheim Neubau Luebecker Strasse
Photo by Andreas Hartmann<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The 2018 CDE conference officially opened with the welcome speeches by the conference organiser Stefani Brusberg-Kiermeier and the Dean of the University of Hildesheim’s Faculty of Arts Prof. Dr. Jens Roselt. The President of the society Prof. Dr. Ute Berns thanked the conference organisers for their work and commitment. She then informed the members of the recent death of long-standing member of CDE, Dr. Christoph Henke, PD (Augsburg), who died the weekend before the conference. A minute of silence followed.<\/p>\n

The President then announced the two winners of the Bi-Annual CDE Award for outstanding dissertations (jury: Annette Pankratz, Kerstin Schmidt, Christina Wald). She read the laudations for Cyrielle Garcon and Jan Suk, who shared the prize this year: Cyrielle Garson (Univ. de Avignon) for her thesis Beyond Documentary Realism: Aesthetic Transgression in Contemporary British Verbatim Theatre<\/em>, and Jan Suk (Charles University Prague) for The Poetics of Immanence: Performance Theatre of Forced Entertainment<\/em>. Both theses will be published as monographs in the CDE book series.<\/p>\n

The conference organiser then spoke a few words on the conference theme: fear and anxiety. Quoting from Charles Darwin and his notion of emotional and social utopia, she mused on the relationship between fear and depression. Referring to Paul Virilio, she drew a line between fear and the expulsion of the other, extending an invitation to the participants to explore the depths of fear on a theoretical level, but to experience days without fear and anxiety at the conference. She then invited British dramatist Laura Wade to join her in conversation. Wade spoke about her progress of becoming a playwright, on questions of communication and the difficulty to communicate, the reclaiming of grief as a process (which is a topic she returned to in her adaptation of Carroll\u2019s Alice in Wonderland<\/em>), the playwright\u2019s process of research and how it shapes character creation, on how it impacts a play to work with a casting director. Her new work has moved towards writing parts for particular actors, building the play around them.<\/p>\n

The second day started with the conference\u2019s first keynote: Graham Saunders (University of Birmingham), \u201cMasters (and Mistresses) of Menace\u201d (introduced by Susanne Bayerlipp). Saunders spoke on the legacy of Harold Pinter’s oeuvre in contemporary British playwriting. He argues that the nature of fear had changed by the turn of the millennium, therefore the way it was discussed in drama also change: the causes of menace in Pinter\u2019s plays were not mysterious and opaque any more, but actually became rather concrete. Referring to David Hare\u2019s The Vertical Hour<\/em> (2008), the work of Martin Crimp (The City<\/em>, 2008, and Fewer Emergencies<\/em>, 2005), and Anthony Neilson (Motortown<\/em>), Saunders traced the discussion of states of fear in post-millennial plays and their relation to Pinter. Other plays discussed were Mark Ravenhill, Shoot\/Get Treasure\/Repeat<\/em> (2008), Jez Butterworth\u2019s Parlour Song<\/em> (2011), Simon Stephens, Punk Rock<\/em> (2009), Caryl Churchill\u2019s play Escaped Alone<\/em> (2016), Alecky Blythe\u2019s Little Revolution<\/em> (2014), and Mike Bartlett\u2019s Bull<\/em> (2015). Saunders concluded that, while Pinter may have been superseded by the dramatists that followed him, his shadow still looms over the portrayal of fear in contemporary drama.<\/p>\n

The keynote was followed by the conference’s first panel, “States of Disorder” (chair: James McKenzie). Yeliz Biber Vang\u00f6l\u00fc (Ataturk University) spoke on \u201cConfronting Fear and Anxiety through Theatre: Idiot\u2019s Child\u2019s What if the Plane Fell out of the Sky?<\/em>” Her paper traced how Idiot Child\u2019s play uses a humorous approach to the gently mocking discussion of contemporary states of anxieties and various forms of coping mechanisms, often rooted in self-help techniques. Ondrej Piln\u00fd (Charles University) then spoke on \u201cAnxieties in Irish Theatre\u201d, touching on Michael West’s Freefall<\/em> (2010), new productions by Corn Exchange and ANU Productions as well as Amy Conroy\u2019s I <3 Amy <3 I <\/em>(2010) and David Ireland\u2019s Cyprus Avenue<\/em> (2016).<\/p>\n

The second panel, “Anxieties Across (Genre) Borders” was chaired by Anette Pankratz. Eda Debedas Dundar spoke on \u201cFrom Involuntary Bystander to TRC Hearing Audience: The Dilemma of the Spectator in Yael Farber\u2019s Molora<\/em>\u201d, discussing Farber’s adaptation of the Oresteia trilogy (2007) as a double of South Africa\u2019s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Marlena Tronicke (Univ. of M\u00fcnster) then spoke on \u201cTerror by Candlelight: Tanika Gupta\u2019s Lions and Tigers<\/em> and the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse\u201d, giving an extended overview on the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse\u2019s history and function, then moving on to Gupta\u2019s contemporary play, underlining the playhouse\u2019s mission to also be a hub for new writing (in the tradition of the original Globe). Ivan Lacko (Univ. of Bratislava) then gave a talk on \u201cFeArt and Dance-xiety in Nature Theatre of Oklahoma\u2019s Pursuit of Happiness<\/em>\u201d and its connection to Jill Dolan’s concept of utopian performatives.<\/p>\n

The CDE Annual General Meeting took place in the afternoon and was followed by supper and a wine reception on the balcony.<\/p>\n

The third day kicked off with the third panel, “Affecting the Audience”, chaired by Anja M\u00fcller-Wood. Sarah Ablett (Univ. of Braunschweig) spoke on \u201c\u2019You\u2019d be ugly if you had a life like mine\u2019: The Repulsive Other in Tim Crouch\u2019s I, Caliban<\/em> (2004) and I, Malvolio <\/em>(2010)\u201d and analysed how disgust functions as a highly efficient driver to elicit responses. Davide Giovanzana (Theatre Academy of Helsinki) then gave a talk entitled \u201cHow can we make sense of violence? Oscillations of Experience\u201d, outlining a project looking at theatre’s response to the medial representation of violence. His talk was followed by Dorothee Birke’s \u201cHouses of Horror: Addressing the Anxieties of the Housing Crisis”. Referring to Radiant Vermin<\/em> by Philip Ridley and Mike Bartlett\u2019s Game<\/em> (both 2015), Birke details how the housing crisis has become one area in which the increasing social stratification becomes more visible.<\/p>\n

The panel was followed by the conference’s second keynote: Patrick Duggan (University of Surrey) spoke on \u201cPerformance & the Politics of Fear: Reflections on Aman Mojadidi\u2019s Remembering a Future<\/em>\u201d, a close reading of the performance, reflecting on questions of authenticity and revealing.<\/p>\n

The fourth panel, chaired by Eckart Voigts, was entitled “The Fearsome Other”. Abir Al-Laham (University of Heidelberg) spoke on \u201c\u2019And you are Fear and Darkness\u2019: Strategies of Fear and Anxiety in Identity Politics\u201d, discussing Mark Ravenhill\u2019s Product<\/em> (2006), Caryl Churchill\u2019s Seven Jewish Children<\/em> (2009), and the casting of the Arab Muslim as subhuman other in the public response to the 2001 terror attacks. Nina Skogli (University of Agder, Kristiansand) gave a talk on \u201cExperiences of Uncertainty and Ambivalence in Soft Eyes<\/em> by Artilleriet Produksjoner\u201d, asking how performances make us engage in the discourse. Merve Kansiz (Bogazici University, Istanbul) gave a close reading of Akhtar’s play and Sarah Ahmed’s theory of the politics of fear in \u201cPost 9\/11 Language of Fear in Ayad Akhtar\u2019s Disgraced<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n

The panel was followed by the third keynote, an interview of Samuel West, \u201cOn Acting and Directing Contemporary British Drama\u201d, conducted by Stefani Brusberg-Kiermeier. Several conference participants were by then on their way to Braunschweig to watch performances at the local theatre.<\/p>\n

The last day started with a workshop by Anna Harpin (Warwick) on \u201cWhat if how I feel about the world at 4am is the truth? Fear, anxiety, and protest\u201d. It was followed by Trish Reid’s keynote \u201cThe Dystopian Near-Future in Contemporary Drama\u201d (introduced by Daniel Sch\u00e4ber), in which she spoke on the epicacy of anxiety and fear as it has become a trope in recent dystopian near-future theatre. Referring to Mike Bartlett\u2019s 13<\/em> (National Theatre 2011), Jennifer Haley, The Nether<\/em> (2014), Rory Mullarkey, The Wolf From the Door<\/em> (2014), debbie tucker green, hang<\/em> (2016), Lucy Kirkwoodd, The Children<\/em> (2016), E.V. Crowe, The Sewing Group<\/em> (2016), Alistair McDowall’s Pomona<\/em> (2014) X<\/em> (2016), Keiran Hurley Heads Up<\/em> (2016), Stef Smith, Human Animals<\/em> (2016) and Girl in the Machine<\/em> (2017), Zinnie Harris, How to Hold Your Breath<\/em> (2015), and Caryl Churchill, Escaped Alone<\/em> (2016), she argued that future worlds are created to examine current political and social structures, the link is often made via the presentation of otherness, discourses of realism, fear and anxiety.<\/p>\n

The keynote was followed by the conference’s last panel: \u201cUncannily Familiar Disasters\u201d, chaired by Susanne Bayerlipp. Banu \u00d6g\u00fcn\u00e7 (Aksaray University) spoke on understanding blackness in \u201cAnxiety in Racial Politics in Kwame Kwei-Armah\u2019s Seize the Day<\/em>\u201d. Jan Suk (University of Hradec Kr\u00e1lov\u00e9) gave a talk on \u201cFear, Anxiety, and the Uncanny in Contemporary US #19 PSi Performance\u201d, commenting on Guillermo Gomez-Pena, Strange Democracy: Border Wars<\/em> (2013), Heather Cassil, Teresias<\/em> (2013), and Ron Athey, Incorruptible Flesh: Messianic Remains<\/em> (2013). William C. Boles (Rollins College) then gave a talk on \u201cDisasters (Natural and Familial) in Steve Waters\u2019 The Contingency Plan<\/em> and Mike Bartlett\u2019s Earthquakes in London<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n

The conference closed on Sunday afternoon. The next conference will take place at the University of Graz (Austria) on 20.-23. June 2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Conference Report: 27th CDE Conference: Fear and Anxiety in Contemporary Drama May 31-June 3, 2018, University of Hildesheim by Dr.\u00a0Julia Boll CDE Secretary\u00a0 The 2018 CDE conference officially opened with the welcome speeches by the conference organiser Stefani Brusberg-Kiermeier and the Dean of the University of Hildesheim’s Faculty of Arts Prof. Dr. Jens Roselt. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-conference-reports"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/essenglish.org\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/essenglish.org\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/essenglish.org\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essenglish.org\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essenglish.org\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2643"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/essenglish.org\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2643\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2648,"href":"https:\/\/essenglish.org\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2643\/revisions\/2648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/essenglish.org\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essenglish.org\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essenglish.org\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}