We need to talk about Shakespeare

UCD and Abbey Theatre host free lecture series on the Bard

Owen Roe as Romeo and Olwen Fouéré as Juliet in Siren Productions’ A Tender Thing by Ben Power at Project Arts Centre. Among the highlights of the lecture programme is a conversation with Selina Cartmell, who directed Roe in the Abbey’s production of King Lear last year and A Tender Thing at the Project, where Power reimagined Romeo and Juliet as a couple in their 70s.

Thu May 01 2014 - 01:36

A series of free public lectures on Shakespeare will take place next month in conjunction with UCD and the Abbey Theatre. Now in its third year, the 2014 UCD/Abbey Theatre Shakespeare Lectures event brings together experts from home and abroad to discuss the Bard's works and his continued influence on literature and performance.

Among the highlights of the programme is a conversation with Selina Cartmell, who directed Owen Roe in the Abbey's production of King Lear last year. The pair recently reunited for A Tender Thing at the Project, where British playwright Ben Power reimagined Romeo and Juliet as a couple in their 70s. Cartmell will be joined by Andrea Ainsworth, voice director at the Abbey, for Visceral and Fearless: Staging and Speaking Shakespeare at the Peacock on May 30th.

Lectures will also be given by Prof Michael Dobson from the Shakespeare Institute in Stratford-upon-Avon and UCD's Prof Anthony Roche. The former will discuss Shakespeare, Amateur Performance and Civic Identity in Britain and Ireland in UCD on May 9th. Prof Roche's talk on May 16th will focus on Shakespeare: "the chap that writes like Synge".

"The aim of the series is to provide broader conversation about Shakespeare in Ireland and the place of Shakespeare in Ireland," said Dr Jane Grogan, from the School of English, Film and Drama in UCD. "Particularly after President Higgins' recent visit to Stratford-upon-Avon, the time seems ripe for such a conversation."