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MAJOR NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON IRISH THEATRE
TO FEATURE PUBLIC PERFORMANCES, LECTURES
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- "One Hundred Years of Irish Theatre," a major national conference sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities, will be held at Indiana University May 26-30. Organized by Stephen Watt, IU professor of English, the conference will feature public lectures and performances in addition to a wide array of seminars for scholars of Irish literary theatre.
"From the enduring cultural importance of Oscar Wilde and Bernard Shaw to the more recent triumphs of playwrights like Martin McDonagh or works like Brian Friel's Dancing at Lughnasa, Irish theatre and Irish culture more broadly have exerted a profound effect on our own culture," Watt said.
The first public event of the conference will be a free lecture May 26 at 7 p.m. in the IU Theatre, where Christopher Fitz-Simon will speak on "Before the Abbey Theatre -- Can There Have Been Such a Time?" Fitz-Simon is the author of The Boys, a biography of Micheal MacLiammoir and Hilton Edwards, who co-founded the widely influential Gate Theatre, Dublin.
There will be another free public lecture on May 28 at 4 p.m. in the Indiana Memorial Union's Oak Room, where director Shivaun O'Casey, daughter of the playwright Sean O'Casey, will give a presentation titled "Under a Colored Cap."
Also on May 28 will be an 8 p.m. performance of Eclipsed at the Waldron Arts Center Auditorium. Written by Patricia Burke Brogan and directed by Charlotte Headrick, this award-winning play tells the story of unwed Irish mothers working as "penitents" in church-run laundries. Tickets are $6 and are available at the Waldron Arts Center, phone 812-332-3183.
The final performance of the conference, on May 29 at 8 p.m. in the Waldron Arts Center's Rose Firebay, will be Someone Who'll Watch Over Me by Tony Award-winning playwright Frank McGuinness. In this play, directed by Terence Hartnett, the lives of an Irishman, an Englishman and an American hang in the balance while their respective countries negotiate their release from a prison in an unnamed Middle Eastern country. Tickets are $6 and are available at the Waldron Arts Center, phone 812-332-3183.
On May 29, Fitz-Simon will give a free slide lecture titled "Portraits of Irish Dramatists" at 1:30 p.m. in the Waldron Arts Center's Rose Firebay.
For a schedule of conference events and ticket information, or to register for the conference, call the IU Conference Bureau at 812-855-4661 or check its Web site at http://www.indiana.edu/~iuconfs
(Jeffrey Austin, 812-855-0085, jeaustin@indiana.edu)