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IMC 2019: Sessions

Session 932: Theatre in the Convent: Objects and Performative Practices - A Round Table Discussion

Tuesday 2 July 2019, 19.00-20.00

Sponsor:Medieval Convent Drama Project / Medieval English Theatre (METh)
Organiser:Olivia Robinson, Département des langues et littératures, Université de Fribourg
Moderator/Chair:Olivia Robinson, Département des langues et littératures, Université de Fribourg
Abstract

This session approaches performance practices within medieval women's religious houses through the lens of the material objects used within their realisation. Each participant will discuss one object which was used 'in performance' within a nunnery - understanding 'performance' broadly to encompass theatre, but also processional practices and idiosyncratic or local ritual or ceremony. The aim of the session is to explore the role of material things within convent performative practices, focusing on why and how certain objects were utilised performatively by sisters in particular ways, and, conversely, how performative practices impacted upon those objects. Participants will discuss textiles, candelabra, lecterns, Christ-child dolls and articulated sculptures, theatrical attire, and woodcuts to explore the material resonances of medieval nuns' theatrical and liturgical 'performances'.

Participants include Aurélie Blanc (University of Fribourg), David Carrillo-Rangel (Universitetet i Bergen), David Catalunya (Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg), Núria Jornet-Benito (Universitat de Barcelona), Matthew Cheung Salisbury (University of Oxford), and Sergi Sancho Fibla (École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), Marseille).