Saturday 11th February 2012
10am to 6pm
CFP Deadline: 15 November 2011

School of Theatre, Performance and Cultural Policy Studies, Millburn House, Warwick University

This one-day conference, held in conjunction with Nineteenth Century Theatre and Film, will explore the connections between art, theatre, and visual culture in the nineteenth century. During this period, the ‘art of seeing’ challenged the traditional dominance of the written word. Vision, previously denigrated as deceptive, became considered as a universal language, accessible to all, and more authentic than text. Popular theatre, especially melodrama, led the way in exploring the possibilities of the new visuality. We invite papers that explore the visual culture of theatre and exchanges between theatre and the visual arts. We are particularly interested in contributions which explore the following topics:

• Theatre as visual culture
• The relationship between word and image
• Theatrical illustration
• Theatrical portraiture
• Audiences and reception of art/theatre/visual culture
• Posters/playbills
• Visual technology: panoramas; dioramas; phantasmagorias; magic lanterns
• Stage spectacle: set design, scene painting, lighting, special effects, costume
• Stage pictorialism/stage tableaux/realization
• Local colour
• Illusion
• Authenticity
• Theatricality
• Attitude and gesture
• Theatre architecture
• Caricature
• Narrative/temporality
• History as spectacle

Please submit abstracts (500 words maximum) to patricia.smyth@nottingham.ac.uk.

Papers should be no more than 20 minutes long and will be followed by a panel discussion.

Lunch, tea and coffee will be provided.

Conference fee: £20 (£10 for postgraduate students)

For further information, please contact Patricia Smyth at the above e mail address.