CfP: Philadelphia Theatre Research Symposium 2025
Philadelphia Theatre Research Symposium 2025
Adaptation and Inspiration: Looking Back, Moving Forward
Friday, May 2, 2025
The Philadelphia Theatre Research Symposium (PTRS) is seeking abstracts for the 2025 gathering of theatre scholars and practitioners. We invite proposals for panels and roundtables for our in-person conference at Villanova University this May. This year’s theme is “Adaptation: Looking Back, Moving Forward,” which asks us to think about the opportunities and tensions that arise from the adaptive impulsein storytelling.
Just within the past few months, the musical-movie adaptation of Wicked, music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by Winne Holzman, has defied box office gravity worldwide. Within the last decade,movie-musical adaptation has been an overwhelmingly successful genre in film, as seen with works such as The Color Purple, West Side Story and In the Heights. Also, we see great success every year with many Greek and Roman play adaptions and inspired works being performed, some recent Broadway successes like Fam Ham by James Ijames, Romeo and Juliet directed by Sam Gold, and Hadestown, with music, lyricsand book by Anais Mitchell.
Throughout history, theatre has relied on spoken word and oral traditions that were often improvised and adapted over time. The timeless process of adaptation has created room for casting and design opportunities and has made theatre more accessible for a variety of audiences. Through the many retellings of stories, many theatrical works have evolved and remained relevant. Adaptation also lends itself to the flexibility for interpretation of original works, which causes natural tensions to arise within/between theatre makers and their audiences. The resulting conversations reveal how the process of adaptation prompts us to address the written story and the world of its performance as two separate entities. These topics will be explored in a keynote question & answer session with celebrated playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins.
We invite proposals for individual papers or roundtables on topics that could include, but are not limited to:
● Oral Traditions
● Improvisation
● Film Adaptations of Theatrical Works
● Inspiration as Opposed to adaptation
● Adaptation as a Hindrance to, or Advantage of, Creativity
● Adaptation for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility
● Recontextualization
● Technical Adaptations (Set, Lighting, Sound, Projection, Costume, etc.)
● Narrative Adaptation Adjustments (Plot, Character Development, etc.)
● Teaching methods for Adaptation
● Adaptations of Greek and Roman Plays
How to Submit:
Please submit a 250-word abstract for a 15-minute presentation to Bess Rowen at bess.rowen@villanova.edu along with a 100-word biography, including your current affiliation, by midnight on Friday, April 11, 2025, at 11:59pm. Please also include: the paper’s title, the presenter’s name, affiliation, and e-mail address.
About Branden Jacob-Jenkins:
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is a Professor in the Practice of Theater and Performance Studies at YaleUniversity. Jacobs-Jenkins is a playwright whose plays include Girls (Yale Rep), Everybody (Signature Theatre; Pulitzer Prize finalist), War (world premiere, Yale Rep; LCT3), Gloria (Vineyard Theatre; Pulitzer Prize finalist), Appropriate (Signature Theatre; OBIE Award), An Octoroon (Soho Rep.; OBIE Award), and Neighbors (The Public Theater).
A Residency Five playwright at Signature Theatre, his most recent honors include the Charles Wintour Award for Most Promising Playwright from the London Evening Standard, a London Critics’ Circle Award for Most Promising Playwriting, a MacArthur Fellowship, the Windham-Campbell Prize for Drama, the Benjamin H. Danks Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Steinberg Playwriting Award, and the inaugural Tennessee Williams Award. Jacobs-Jenkins has taught at NYU, Juilliard, Hunter College, and the University of Texas-Austin.
About PTRS:
The goal of PTRS is to provide a forum for theatre scholars and practitioners to share their research and work in order to enter into a dialogue about current trends in theatrical practice and scholarship. Additionally, PTRS seeks to provide a platform for the works of emerging theatre scholars. Panels will consist of paper presentations of 15-20 minutes and will be moderated by a scholar and/or practitioner.
About VUTD:
The Villanova University Theatre Department aims to inform and inspire theatre artists, administrators, and scholars who will impact the future of this dynamic art form. Our culture of creativity engages in rigorous study and the practical application of theatrical theories and techniques. We believe art has the power to transform hearts and minds by challenging both individuals and communities.