This was the second day of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education conference in Boston. I was very glad to get to the Religion and Theatre Emerging Scholars Panel, where my colleague Dan Poston presented a paper on Joseph Addison.
Also on the panel was Cate Heiner, who spoke on Tim Slover's play Virtue, about Hildegard of Bingen. Not surprisingly, the play's title comes from the name of Hildegard's own play, The Order of the Virtues. Plan B-Theatre Company debuted the play in Salt Lake City, and interestingly enough, that company also staged the play Facing East, which was the subject of another paper by Kristin Perkins.
My own paper "Byron's Dramatic Revolt" was later that day as a part of a session called "Unconventional Resistance on the European Stage." Greer Gerni coordinated that session, and also presented a paper on Yiddish theatre in the wake of the Russian Revolution. Madison Cortez spoke about Brian Friel's play The Freedom of the City, and Matthew McMahan talked on the late-19th-century circus act Footit and Chocolat.
I also attended the ATHE annual membership meeting and awards ceremony, and then got to see the keynote speakers, Quiara Alegria Hudes and her sister Gabriela Sanchez. They were quite entertaining, and quite moving.
Friday, I'll be giving another paper at 5:00. Perhaps I'll see you there!
