Winter Quarter
1. The Early Modern Center offered a screening and discussion of Head Over Heels, a musical based on Philip Sidney’s Arcadia, set to the music of the Go-Go’s. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival, where the musical premiered, offers the following description on their website:
“A duke. A mysterious prophecy. Two daughters: one mobbed by suitors, the other . . . not so much. And all set to the beat of 1980s pop icons the Go-Go’s? An Elizabethan love story is turned on its head in this exuberant musical, inspired by Sir Philip Sidney’s 16th-century pastoral romance, The Arcadia. This world premiere promises a delicious mix of razor-sharp wordplay, infectious songs and romantic surprises.”
More information about Head Over Heels can be found here: https://www.headoverheelsthemusical.com. Snacks were provided at this event.
2. Additionally, the EMC is excited to host a regular discussion group that reads early modern plays together (i.e., we take turns reading a play aloud and discussing, so people do not have to prepare in advance). We met once in the Fall Quarter and decided to read The Witch of Edmonton this quarter. Starting on 2/7, we will meet every Tuesday from 1-2 in the Early Modern Center (South Hall 2510). No prior early modern experience is necessary to join!
3. The EMC also hosted two trainings for the MakerLab on 1/27 and 2/3.
Fall Quarter
The Early Modern Center planned the following events for the Fall quarter:
1. On Thursday, October 20, from 3-4 p.m. PT in the EMC (South Hall 2510), we held our fall “meet and greet” event. We discussed the schedule for the upcoming year and introduced (or re-introduced) ourselves.
2. On Thursday, October 27, from 9:30-10:45 a.m. PT, Alice Equestri presented on “Intellectual Disability, the English Law, and the Fools of Shakespeare and his Contemporaries.” She visited a seminar on Shakespeare and Disability Studies, but her presentation was open to the public. This was be a hybrid event (i.e., participants joined via Zoom or the EMC).
3. On Thursday, November 3, from 2-3 p.m. PT in the EMC (South Hall 2510), we met to discuss the possibility of a regular discussion group that reads early modern texts within the group (i.e., we take turns reading then analyzing a literary work aloud, and people do not have to prepare in advance).