MATC 2019 Theatre History Symposium CFP

The 40th Annual Mid-America Theatre Conference
Cleveland Marriot Downtown at Key Center, March 7 – 10, 2019
“INVENTION”

Theatre History Symposium—Call for Papers

All proposals must be received by October 15, 2018

We seem awash in invention at the moment. But are we drowning in it? What innovations float to the top? Does our current sea of inventiveness baptize us, clearing the way for new ways of thinking, being, and performing? As familiar conventions, narratives, and laws are cast aside, a space opens for rebirth, flights of fancy, and spectacular deceit. From students inventing a march for their lives to daily additions to the lexicon of fake news, invention promises hope and portends destruction.

After experiencing a tidal wave of inventiveness in the 18th- and 19th-centuries, Cleveland found itself on the ebb of industrial and economic prosperity. In the wake of this fallout, the city has been working to invent a new reputation, and the theatre scene is one way in which the city is innovating and reinvigorating its history. As the Cleveland-based inventor John Nottingham puts it, “I see a sea change coming back to the Midwest.” In what ways do we see a “sea change” in theatrical practice and scholarship?

This year’s Theatre History Symposium asks participants to consider the promises and problems that characterize our inventions on the stage, on the page, and in our classrooms. Some questions papers might address include: As historians, pedagogues, and artist/practitioners, how do we respond to today’s political/economic/social/cultural realities? In what ways has artistic invention been stifled? How do we innovate modes of critique? In what ways is “invention” gendered/racialized/sexualized? How do correlations between invention and progress create problematic considerations of invention? Does invention privilege the individual over the collective? What happens when collaborators are ignored/erased/silenced in histories about groundbreaking creations? How might historiographic approaches shed light on the collaborative processes that lead to invention?

We are excited to announce that Dr. Amy Hughes will serve as this year’s Theatre History Symposium Respondent.

For further information:http://matc.us/calls-for-papers/theater-history-symposium

All proposals must be received by October 15, 2018