The Shakespearean Theatre Conference

The 3^rd Shakespearean Theatre Conference took place from June 19-22, 2019. After an opening reception at the Stratford Festival Archives, about 90 people gathered at the University of Waterloo’s Stratford Campus to explore the conference theme, “Festival and Festivity.”  Highlights of the conference included keynote lectures by M.J. Kidnie (Western University), Farah Karim-Cooper (Shakespeare’s Globe), and Paul Prescott (University of Warwick), along with roundtable discussions of Othello and Merry Wives of Windsor by directors, scholars, and actors from the Stratford Festival’s 2019 productions. In all over 70 speakers addressed such topics as Shakespeare festivals from the eighteenth century to the present day, festival theory, the politics of festivity, the Stratford Festival in the 1950s, The Shoemaker’s Holiday, festive comedy, and festive violence, while participants kicked up their heels in workshops on dance and actor training. The full program is below.

Next up: the 4^th Shakespearean Theatre Conference, “Shakespeare in a Changing World,” in June, 2021.

Conference organizers

• Kenneth J.E. Graham, Department of English, from the University of Waterloo
• Alysia Kolentsis, Department of English, from the St. Jerome’s University
• Katherine Laing, Education Administrative Manager, from the Stratford Festival

Archives

• 2019 Conference Program (PDF)
• 2017 Conference Program (PDF)
• 2015 Conference Program (PDF)

Sponsors