PERFORM Log
October 1994
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Date: Wed, 5 Oct 1994 14:46:41 +0100
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: Mrs M Twycross
Subject: Re: Medieval Performance Publications
In-Reply-To: from "Andrew David Ryder" at Sep 27, 94 12:59:25 pm
Reply: Medieval English Theatre.
>
> I am a graduate student at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. This
> summer I finished my Master's Thesis at Michigan State based on a
> contemporary adaptation of part of the N-town Passion. I am interested
> in getting the chapter on staging published, so I thought this might be
> a good place to start.
>
> Can anyone suggest publications which are geared toward this kind of
> performance research, and indicate who I might contact or send an
> abstract to?
>
> Any help will be much appreciated.
>
> Thank You.
>
> Andrew Ryder
> Bowling Green State University
>
> email: aryder@bgnet.bgsu.edu
>
=========================================================================
Date: Wed, 5 Oct 1994 09:27:50 -0700
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: Robert Cohen
Subject: Re: Medieval Performance Publications
On-Stage Studies, published by the Theatre Department at the University of
Colorado, Boulder (Judith Bock, editor) publishes such research. Robert Cohen
>Reply: Medieval English Theatre.
>>
>> I am a graduate student at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. This
>> summer I finished my Master's Thesis at Michigan State based on a
>> contemporary adaptation of part of the N-town Passion. I am interested
>> in getting the chapter on staging published, so I thought this might be
>> a good place to start.
>>
>> Can anyone suggest publications which are geared toward this kind of
>> performance research, and indicate who I might contact or send an
>> abstract to?
>>
>> Any help will be much appreciated.
>>
>> Thank You.
>>
>> Andrew Ryder
>> Bowling Green State University
>>
>> email: aryder@bgnet.bgsu.edu
>>
>
>
=========================================================================
Date: Sat, 8 Oct 1994 21:10:58 -0700
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: Jesse Hurlbut
Organization: Brigham Young University
Subject: drama 'n dance
I'm doing some more thinking about this grad. course I'll be teaching
next semester on French Medieval Drama and I have a few questions to
put to the group. (While I'm mostly interested in what happens in
France, I'd like to know what's going on elsewhere as well):
1)
What kinds of indications do we have about dancing in medieval drama?
(I could really use some bibliography here...)
2)
I am still wondering why there seems to be so little representation
of major literary figures in medieval drama: where are Arthur,
Tristan, Roland, Renart, and la Rose? Did the oral "performance" of
these texts put them beyond dramaturgical consideration (e.g. "it's
been done")? Perhaps my expectations are fed by my upbringing in an
age of easy generic transfer (e.g. "read the book, see the play, rent
the film, now you can play the video game!")? Does this lacuna in
the repertory tell us anything about the audiences or the producers
of drama (and their expectations) or about the function of medieval
performance? Did tournaments with all their narrative accouterments
constitute the dramatized versions of the chevalric romances? I
can't believe there's so little courlty love "performed" when it
dominates so much poetry and narrative fiction. We've been over some
of this before, but I could use a refresher.
Well, there's more, but I'll stop there for tonight...
Jesse_Hurlbut@byu.edu
i.e., arthurian, Rolandcourtly love
=========================================================================
Date: Sat, 8 Oct 1994 22:30:08 EWT
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: CHRIS SMITH/Indiana U SOM/ONE WORLD
Subject: Performing medieval literature as drama (was: "drama 'n dance")
Jesse poses an interesting question about the dearth of commentary in
period sources on the possibilities of medieval narrative prose being
"performed as drama." I understand that question to implicate the
formulation "if sacred drama was central and essential, why the apparent
lack of secular/narrative drama? viz., Tristan, Roland, Renart, etc"
Don't have MS citations for you, but I thought I would share with you
a bit of information about a program prepared by Altramar medieval music
ensemble, whose explicit theme was "the Medieval Hero/Heroine" and teh
subtext an exploration of epic narrative/storytelling. Included in the
program are quasi-staged excerpts from the Vienna Prose Tristan, a lament
on the death of Richard Coeur de Lion, a long Latin sequence on Samson,
and a spoken-and-sung excerpt from a medieval Turkish epic "Kitab-al
Dede Korkut" ("The Book of Dede Korkut"). Some of the connections we saw
between the MS sources for these four very different genre:
The VP Tristan and "Dede Korkut" are both presented in alternating
sections of prose and rhymed verse, implying a contrast in
reading (and therefore perhaps speaking) style;
Some of the rhetorical devices of the lament and the sequence are
of course closely related; also in terms of melodic motives;
Some of the (for lack of better words) "semiotic and affective"
stances in Tristan, the Richard, and the Samson are similar,
due no doubt to their geographic and literary proximity.
We were interested in presenting the Turkish piece alongside the three
described above because Dede Korkut references a vast and sophisticated
repertoire from the Arab world, Middle Europe, Anatolia, and Central Asia.
These areas share related ideas about oral history, narrative, epic performance,
and folk storytelling techniques. Our version of DK was based on melodic
material from the Anatolian and Azerbaidjani folk versions of these stories;
the text on a 16th Polish MS in Anatolian Turkish.
Interesting question, as I said: the folk/epic storytelling tradition is
so very widespread, encompassing all of Central and Eastern Europe, all of
Asia and the Arabic East, Siberian/Lapp/Inuit culture, Native American,
West, North and South Africa, the British Isles, that it seems almost in-
evitable that there must have been SOME crossover into or influence of
the oral genre on the parallel written ones.
(For those who are interested, this Altramar program was performed at the
'93 Boston Early Music Festival, will be offered again in Des Moines in
January '95 and in Milwaukee in April '95.)
Feel free to email me privately for more info.
Thanks Jesse!
Regards,
Chris Smith
Indiana University
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Date: Sun, 9 Oct 1994 01:21:06 -0400
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: BARRETTA@NYUACF.BITNET
Subject: call for papers: Performance Studies Conference
(The following call has been posted to a variety of lists;
please forgive cross-postings.)
p l e a s e p o s t
The Performance Studies Departments of New York University
and Northwestern University are pleased to announce the
--------------------------------------------
FIRST ANNUAL PERFORMANCE STUDIES CONFERENCE
T H E F U T U R E O F T H E F I E L D
--------------------------------------------
24-26 March 1995
New York University
Submissions must be postmarked: 1 November 1994
We invite participants to question Performance Studies as an
interdisciplinary and intercultural project, to expand or
complicate existing critical paradigms, and to target areas
for future work. We welcome contributions which address a
wide range of issues, methodologies and approaches.
The committee will review abstracts or, preferably, full
papers (c. 10 pages, 20 minutes); proposals for panels;
seminars; workshops; "breakout" sessions; and performances.
Presentations which engage or critique the performance
conventions of the scholarly conference are encouraged.
NYU journals TDR and Women & Performance will also consider
papers for publication.
Registration and housing information will be mailed in January,
1995.
Send proposals and inquiries to:
Amanda Barrett and Jill Lane, Directors
Performance Studies Conference
Department of Performance Studies
Tisch School of the Arts, NYU
721 Broadway, New York, NY 10003.
phone: (212) 998-1624
e-mail:barretta@acfcluster.nyu.edu.
=========================================================================
Date: Sun, 9 Oct 1994 07:46:27 -0400
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: "(Bob Friedhoffer)"
Subject: magic
I have a particular interest in the performance of juggling ,
magic/conjuring tricks and other related entertainments.
This is in any and all venues and milieu.
The marketplace, royal entertainment, the itinerant showman, etc.
This includes the how to books, or just mentions of magic performance,
such as in the British mention of books on Bartholomew Faire,
"Hocus Pocus Jr.", "Natural Magic" by Della Porta,
"Discovery of Witchcraft" by Scot, etc.
Even references to public entertainments by people such as Guericke
demonstrating his Magdesburg hemispheres in a public demonstration are sought
after, ie, Science that may have been used as public entertainments.
Thanks in advance.
Bob Friedhoffer
=========================================================================
Date: Sun, 9 Oct 1994 10:18:00 EST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: NAOMI LIEBLER
Subject: Re: magic
Don't forget Greene's *Friar Bacon and Friat Bungay,* and of course, the "B"
text of Marlowe's *Dr. Faustus.*
Cheers,
NCL
=========================================================================
Date: Sun, 9 Oct 1994 12:50:01 EDT
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: "William A. Fregosi"
Subject: Re: drama 'n dance
In-Reply-To: Your message of Sat,
08 Oct 94 21:10:58 -0700. <9410090312.AA13738@MIT.EDU>
The Play of Robin and Marian (on Robin Hood) was performed by a French troup in
Sicily for the entertainment of soldiers occupying the island after the (in)-
famous Sicilian Vespers massacre--a kind of early USO or Bob Hope tour. Robin,
of course, is more of a folk hero than a Chivalric icon of the type you are
discussing.
Bill Fregosi
M.I.T. Theatre Arts
=========================================================================
Date: Sun, 9 Oct 1994 23:54:00 +0100
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Comments: Sent using PMDF-822 V3.0, routing is done by SARA5
From: JELLE KOOPMANS
Subject: Re: drama 'n dance
Dear Jesse,
You might want to look into my article `Les sots du theatre et les sauts
de la morisque a la fin du moyen age' in Les Lettres Romanes 43, 1989
pp.43-59. As for dramatic traces of chivalric romance, my Leeds paper (july
1994) partly treated the subject; I'm still working on it. Texts do not really
survive, but quite often archival material mentions `chivalric' mystery plays.
Jelle Koopmans
jkoopmans@alf.let.uva.nl
=========================================================================
Date: Sun, 9 Oct 1994 19:05:16 EWT
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: Larry Clopper
Subject: Re: drama 'n dance
Could you tell us more about archival material that refers to chivalric mystery
plays.
Larry Clopper
=========================================================================
Date: Sun, 9 Oct 1994 21:52:57 -0400
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: Steve Wright
Subject: Re: drama 'n dance
Jesse: The closest thing I know of to the use of chivalric material
in medieval drama would be three of the four "abele spelen" preserved
in the Van Hulthem manuscript, namely, "Esmoreit," "Gloriant,"
and "Lanseloet van Danemarken." They are not exactly Arthurian, and
certainly don't feature the likes of Roland, but they are serious
secular plays dealing with love and chivalry. For a concise
introduction to the plays and their history, see the chapter
on the Low Countries by Elsa Strietman in _The Theatre of Medieval
Europe_, ed. Eckehard Simon (1991). (As a side note, we have a
translation of all four abele spelen and the accomanying farces in
progress for the EEDT series.)
I have a half-finished list of dances in early drama which I have
been compling for the past year or two. It is at the office and I am at
home, so I will try to mention a few things from memory tonight and
get the rest for you next week. First of all, I guess you're not
asking about sword dances, plough dances, morris dances, Dance of Death,
etc. Chambers and the folklorists have done a lot of work on these
performances. if you are interested, I'll send you my bibliography.
Here are some titles to begin with:
E. Catherine Dunn, _The Gallican Saint's Life and the Late Roman
Dramatic Tradition_ (1989) on sacred and secular dance in the anceint and
early medieval world.
Richard Axton, _European Drama in the early Middle Ages_ (1974)
has a chapter on dance as a possible source for early dramatic performances.
See also his ""Popular Modes in the earliest Plays," in _Medieval Drama_,
ed. Neville denny (1973), 13-39.
J. Bedier, "Les plus anciennes danses francaises," Revue des Deux
Mondes 31 (1901)
Also: Richard Rastell very kindly posted a long list of dances in
early English drama to either PERFORM or REED-L a year or so ago. If he
is still lurking out there, perhaps he still has it handy. Or again, I
could post you my copy of his work next week.
Finally, a few examples which come to mind of both angelic and
demonic dancing in early drama:
The dance of the Jewish maidens in the expanded versions (after 1491)
of Marcade's _Vengance Jhesucrist_
The dance of the angels to welcome the soul of the Virgin to heaven in
the so-called Innsbruck Assumption Play (1391)
The dance of Lady Pride in the so-called "Gotha Messenger's Role"
The "dance of praise" by Lucifer and his followers in Dietrich
Schernberg's "Spiel von Frau Jutten"
The mocking dance of Synagoga and the Jews performed at the foot of
the cross in the Alsfeld Passion Play
The dance before the pagan idols in Wilhem Stapfer's play of the
Invention of the Holy Cross
And several mentions of dancing in lost performances: a dance in
the Bozen Corpus Christi Play, the Burghausen Ascension Day play, dancing
monks and nuns in the Last Judgment Play from Freiberg (Sachsen), the
dance "around the calf" in the Munich Corpus Christi Play, dancing in
the Stralsund Christmas play, a sword dance in the St. Willibrordus
Procession in Venlo, etc. etc.
What about Salome in the "decollation de saint Jean" sections of
French Passion plays--does she dance?
It will be interesting to see what others can come up with.
--Steve Wright
Catholic University
=========================================================================
Date: Mon, 10 Oct 1994 12:20:00 +0100
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Comments: Sent using PMDF-822 V3.0, routing is done by SARA5
From: JELLE KOOPMANS
Subject: Re: drama 'n dance
In 1350, there is a `feste des enfans Aymery de Narbonne' in Lille; in 1489
a `jeu et exemple du chevalier Yde' has been played in Mons (Cohen 1925
p.xvi). The same source gives crusade mysteries e.g. `Couronnement de
Baudouin de Flandres' and a `jeu et exemple de Godefroy de Bouillon'.
Ancient history: a Jules Cesar-mystery in Amboise, 1500 (Dittmann 1923
p.100). More recent history: Arles 1460 `histoire ou jeux de la ville
de Constantinople'; Compiegne 1453 `Deconfiture de Talebot advenue en bordelais'
Bethune 1469 `Destruction de Liege; Paris 1461 `Prise de Dieppe et fuite des
Anglais'; 1537, Valenciennes `Prise de Tunis par Charles Quint.
National themes: Tours 1451 a saint Charlamagne-mystery; Chieri (Piemont)
1494 `ystoire de la victoire du roy Clovis'. Same theme in: mysteries for the
coronation of Charles VIII, where Coquillart (father of the famous poet)
writes a `histoire de l'election et couronnement de Pharamond premier
roy de France'. Important Clovis-episodes in the Saint Remi-mystery
(unpublished; my edition forthcoming) and in the miracles par personnages
(Paris-Robert VII,195-277). Wonderful, `chanson de geste'-like battle
scenes also in Guillaume Flamangs Saint Didier-mystery (ed. Carnandet).
Some medieval romance themes: Pierre de Provence-mystery (Bibl.
Colombina, Sevilla, see Babelon); Manekine/Helene de Constantinople
theme in miracle de la fille du roy de Hongrie (Paris-Robert V,3-88).
Furthermore, there still exists an interesting parallel in the
Sicilian puppet theatre (E. Li Gotti, Il teatro degli puppi), where
traditional themes of Orlando and the French paladines were still
played in the fifties (some Norman link?).
I hope this is a helpful first inventory,
Yours,
Jelle Koopmans
jkoopmans@alf.let.uva.nl
=========================================================================
Date: Mon, 10 Oct 1994 08:46:01 GMT
Reply-To: mus6grr@lucs-mac.novell.leeds.ac.uk
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: Richard Rastall
Organization: University of Leeds
Subject: Re: drama 'n dance
Jesse -- on dance, you might try the articles by Ann Faulkner and
myself in Davidson and Seiler's _The Iconography of Hell_ (an EDAM
publication from Kalamazoo. Limited (to England and in other ways),
but it might be a start.
On the question of performance, I take it that one of your problems
is to distinguish recitation from drama. As I remember, Richard
Axton has something useful to say about this in his book ?Traditions
of English Drama (or was that Stan Kahrl's, published by the same
firm at about the same time?). Again, he's dealing with Engliand,
but what he says would be helpful in considering those bawdy (and
other, if there are any) French monologues like the Franc Archier.
Richard
Dr G.R. Rastall
Department of Music,
University of Leeds,
Leeds LS6 9JT
UK
Tel: 0532 332581
Fax: 0532 332586
=========================================================================
Date: Mon, 10 Oct 1994 10:13:05 -0400
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: Amelia Carr
Subject: Re: drama 'n dance
In-Reply-To: <9410100202.AA20566@alleg.EDU>
Would the Tegernsee Play of Antichrist be considered "proto-chivalric"?
Its emphasis on divine militarism and its vague connection to the 3rd
crusade would be points in its favor; its german imperialism is a sort of
response to the french chivalric material, in my mind. I've also
suggested that the staged battles would have been dance-like in their
execution (a la sword dancing), although that's just a guess.
Amelia Carr
acarr@alleg.edu
=========================================================================
Date: Mon, 10 Oct 1994 09:21:03 EWT
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: Larry Clopper
Subject: Re: drama 'n dance
In Jelle's list of plays a number were called "mysteries." Is this the
terminology of the documents? If so, what does "mystery" mean in this context.
Larry Clopper
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Date: Mon, 10 Oct 1994 17:56:00 +0100
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Comments: Sent using PMDF-822 V3.0, routing is done by SARA5
From: JELLE KOOPMANS
Subject: Re: drama 'n dance
The exact meaning of the word mystery (Lat. ministerium) is quite
difficult to grasp. It may allude to theatre, or `silent' performances,
it also used by chroniclers like Jean Molinet to describe something
miraculous or ceremonious. Quite often, it is used in the teitle of
surviving plays (e.g. S. Remi, S. Didier(?)), but archival sources
quite often mention thins like `jeu et exemple' `histoire'. A full
inventory of occurrences (and analysis') of the word does not exist,
to my knowledge.
Jelle
jkoopmans@alf.let.uva.nl
=========================================================================
Date: Mon, 10 Oct 1994 18:48:27 +0100
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: Avril Henry
Subject: Re: drama 'n dance
In-Reply-To: <16905.9410101420@cen> from "Amelia Carr" at Oct 10,
94 10:13:05 am
Did anyone mention _Wisdom, Who Is Christ_, in the Macro Plays? When I saw
the brilliant production in Winchester, backalong, the dances of the retainers
of Mynde, Wyll and Undyrstondynge became the viusal focal point of the whole
production......
--
Avril
************************************************************************
EMAIL: A.K.Henry@exeter.ac.uk PHONE: 0392-264252
SNAILMAIL: School of English & American Studies FAX: 0392-264377
University of Exeter
Queen's Building
Queen's Drive
EXETER, Devon, U.K.,EX4 4QH
=========================================================================
Date: Mon, 10 Oct 1994 16:06:00 EDT
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: bill mccarthy
Subject: Re: drama 'n dance
In-Reply-To: WRIGHTS AT CUA.EDU -- Sun, 9 Oct 1994 21:52:57 -0400
The four angel/virtues in the Mary Play from the N Town manuscript dance when
they have worked out the theological problems of the Incarnation. This occurs
just before the annunciation in this play. This dance, by the way,
is a sort of a gloss on the biblical phrase Mercy and Justice have kissed,
truth and righteousness are met together. (I am quoting from memory. Anyone
interested needs toconsult one of the editions of the manuscript or the Mary
play.
=========================================================================
Date: Mon, 10 Oct 1994 16:11:00 EDT
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: bill mccarthy
Subject: Re: drama 'n dance
In-Reply-To: JKOOPMANS AT ALF.LET.UVA.NL -- Mon, 10 Oct 1994 12:20:00 +0100
What about the puppet plays. They seem to be very old, and Roland/Paladin stor
ies were their stock in trade. Still found in Sicily and in Belgium. They
were around in 1600--Don Quixote mistakes them for reality. And surely they
were not new then. Perhaps these stories were the property of the puppet
masters, and that is why they were not otherwise performed.
=========================================================================
Date: Mon, 10 Oct 1994 21:32:00 +0100
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Comments: Sent using PMDF-822 V3.0, routing is done by SARA5
From: JELLE KOOPMANS
Subject: Re: drama 'n dance
Yes, I posted a message to Jesse about the sicilian puppet theatre (reference
to Ettore Li Gotte, Il teatro....) which may have come to Sicily because of
some Norman link. Which is most interesting in all this is the existence
of an iconographical dpocument about medieval puppet theatre (illustratibon
in a `roman d'Alezxandre'-manuscript) whilst we know not of any texts
meant to be performed by puppets (chanson de geste? farce? mystery?).
We have no certainties, but something must have been there...
Jelle
jkoopmansd@alf.let.uva.nl
=========================================================================
Date: Tue, 11 Oct 1994 09:28:01 GMT
Reply-To: mus6grr@lucs-mac.novell.leeds.ac.uk
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: Richard Rastall
Organization: University of Leeds
Subject: Re: drama 'n dance
There are several occasions for dance in the English plays: in
N-Town the torturers dance around the Cross; Wisdom has been
mentioned; so have the Daughters of God in N-Town; the virgins of
the Temple dance in The Killing of the Children; Curiosity seduces
Mary Magdalene with a dance in Mary M (see article by Colin Slim in
Early Music c. 6-10 years ago); and there are general dances at the
end of the Ordinalia and Beunans Meriasek (these last in Cornish, of
course, English only geographically).
I have a suspicion that I've missed one, but I'm away from my notes
...
Richard
Dr G.R. Rastall
Department of Music,
University of Leeds,
Leeds LS6 9JT
UK
Tel: 0532 332581
Fax: 0532 332586
=========================================================================
Date: Tue, 11 Oct 1994 12:19:06 +0100
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: Mrs M Twycross
Subject: Re: drama 'n dance
In-Reply-To: from "Jesse Hurlbut" at Oct 8, 94 09:10:58 pm
See John Marshall's article in the last-but-one edition of Theatre Notebook
on non-biblical plays. Also re. dance, John Marshall's forthcoming article in
Medieval English Theatre vol 14, on the disguisings in Wisdom as a political
comment.
If anyone wants to see the dance of the Four Daughters of God in N.Town
'Parliament of Heaven', they could buy our video which is nearly ready (all
except the captions). A lot of formal and promiscuous kissing.
Meg Twycross
=========================================================================
Date: Tue, 11 Oct 1994 12:48:33 +0100
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: Mrs M Twycross
Subject: Re: magic
In-Reply-To: from "PERFORM%EDU.INDIANA.UCS.IUBVM@earn-relay.ac.uk" at
Oct 9, 94 07:46:27 am
There is a dissertation in the Shakespeare Centre at Stratford on Avon* about
Apius and Virginia by 'R.B.' which uses the information on how to cut off your
assistant's head and then restore him to life with regard to Virginius'
decapitation of Virginia. We did it in our production and it works. (It appears
on our video, but being video it doesn't show the trick, merely substitutes the
video trick instead.)
Meg Twycross
P.S. Look under 'Birmingham University'.
=========================================================================
Date: Tue, 11 Oct 1994 12:50:27 +0100
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: Mrs M Twycross
Subject: Re: Performing medieval literature as drama (was: "drama 'n
dance")
In-Reply-To: from "CHRIS SMITH/Indiana U SOM/ONE WORLD" at Oct 8,
94 10:30:08 pm
The e-mail has been playing up, so I don't know if my previous message went
out. It just said, have you looked at John McKinnell's edition of 'Mary of
Nemmegen'? It seems to have been a play, but was printed as a prose narrative.
Meg Twycross
=========================================================================
Date: Tue, 11 Oct 1994 12:24:29 +0000
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: "Graham A. Runnalls"
Organization: Arts
Subject: Re: drama 'n dance
Jesse Hurlbut's query about drama 'n' dance has produced a
large number of replies, which in turn raised several other
issues, including the problem of defining the word
"mistere". Here are some obervations.
a) Except for one isolated occurrence, the word *mistere*
(usual medieval spelling) is notfound before the 15th
century. Therefore (?) no pre-15th century French plays can
with confidence be called mysteres.
b) The use of the word *mistere* occurring in medieval
play titles has been analysed in (solipsistically and
apologetically) my article : "When is a "mystere" not a
"mystere"? Titles and Genres in Medieval French Drama",
published in the late-lamented (and out-of-print) Treteaux
(Bulletin de la Section Francaise de la Societe
Internationale pour l'Etude du Theatre Medieval), II (1980)
23-8. [This will be republished in a few months' time in an
anthology of 22 of my articles entitled "Mysteres et
Miracles en France (XIVe et XVIe siecles)", Collection
Varia, Editions Paradigme, Orleans 1995.] In this article I
examine all the surviving title pages of late French
religious drama. As Jelle Koopmans has said, many plays,
which we now tend to call mystery plays, were not so called
by their authors/scribes. Other words used include: Vie,
Histoire, Livre, Jeu, Moralite, Miracle(s) - and often a
combination of two of these. The key title element is the
expression "par personnages", since most of the above words
could have non-dramatic applications.
c) The absence of texts which dramatise Arthurian or
romance material is striking (though the Miracles de Nostre
dame par personnages, Paris 14th C, include dramatisations
of several epics and romances, but adapted to fit into the
miracle-play mould). Possible explanations might be
i) the fact that the social class of romance audiences was
probably different from that of outdoor theatre.
ii) The narrative texts, like the Passion des Jongleurs,
which were at the origin of many of the later Passion Plays,
set out to provide a more wholesome alternative to the
romances and epics. In the prologue to the Passion des
Jongleurs (and also in the prologue to the Sermon of the XV
Signes du Jugement, which *may* be part of the Jeu (not
Mystere!) d'Adam), the writer complains about a public
which:
Plus volontiers orroit conter
Coment Rolans ala joster
A Olivier, son compaignon,
K'il ne feroit la Passion,
Ke Dex sofri o grant enhan
Por le pechie ke fist Adan.
Graham.A.Runnalls@ed.ac.uk
=========================================================================
Date: Tue, 11 Oct 1994 15:59:52 -0400
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: "Hovland, Deborah"
Organization: from SUNY College at Buffalo, NY 14222
Subject: English/Flemish/Burgundian Medieval Comic Drama
I am in the process of researching possible English, Flemish, and/or
Burgundian influence on the northern French farce. I am therefore checking to
see if any plays resembling farces (short, comic plays motivated by a trick or
a bad turn one character plays on another) appeared in English, Flemish, or
Burgundian repertoires, and when. French theater scholars have traditionally
held that the farce is a uniquely northern French phenomenon, but I suspect
that this is not the case: is there such a beast as a Flemish, Burgundian, or
English farce???
Also, did England, Flanders or Burgundy produce any literature/plays featuring
the conflicts of husbands and wives? I already know about BurgundyUs Les Quinze
joies de mariage.
Finally, if somebody could tell me whether, prior to 1500, Burgundy, England
or Flanders had developed a tradition of misogynous literature/drama (akin to
the farce, the fabliau or Les Quinze Joies de mariage), I would be very much
obliged.
Thank you,
Deborah Hovland
Department of Foreign Languages
SUNY College at Buffalo
Buffalo, NY
email: HOVLANDL@snybufva.cs.snybuf.edu
=========================================================================
Date: Tue, 11 Oct 1994 14:56:04 -0700
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: Jesse Hurlbut
Organization: Brigham Young University
Subject: defining performance genres
I appreciate all this very helpful discussion. Thanks to everyone
who has responded either publicly or privately. I'd like to pick up
on two comments:
Bill McCarthy said:
> Perhaps these stories were the property of the puppet masters, and
> that is why they were not otherwise performed.
Graham A. Runnalls said:
> Possible explanations might be
> i) the fact that the social class of romance audiences was
> probably different from that of outdoor theatre. [...]
I like Graham's argument, but wonder if it couldn't be countered by
the very quote that he cites from the Passion des Jongleurs which
places the two "genres" in direct competition with one another?
In another vein, though, the question that these two comments raise in my
mind is about generic distinctions. What are the boundaries that
separate one genre from another? How do we know who "owns" certain
kinds of cultural productions or material? It's clear that terminology
(mistere, jeu, ystoire par personages) doesn't help us as much as
we'd like. Nevertheless, some texts are fairly easy to categorize (religious
vs. secular plays, etc. -- I know, I need to reread Alan Knight's book on
this).
I agree that there will always be gray areas in any
consideration of genre, but I worry about filtering our perception of
the artifacts through modern lenses (alterity angst).
When G. Doutrepont says that all visual spectacle (including
banquets, receptions, tableaux) constitutes an important part of
theatrical history in XVth c. Burgundy, is he plying early phenomenon
to fit modern categories? What clues do we have about where lines
were drawn for the original producers, sponsors and audiences?
Today, we distinguish puppet plays from the oral "reading" of a
chanson de geste from a passion play from a carnival from any number
of other "kinds" of performance. But we are also extremely aware of
all the water that has since passed under the Bridge of "Performing
Arts" in a way that can't help but color our thinking. We've seen
Shakespeare, Moliere, Wagner, "Performance" artists, et al. and have
established some fairly neat categories for ourselves. Therefore,
the only way we can confidently reconstruct medieval typologies is
with the supporting evidence of original materials. The author of the
Passion des Jongleurs (in Graham's quote) seems to provide us with a
couple of clues. Where else can we turn?
Jesse_Hurlbut@byu.edu
=========================================================================
Date: Wed, 12 Oct 1994 10:23:35 +0200
Reply-To: kramer@let.rug.nl
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: Femke
Organization: Faculteit der Letteren, RuG, NL
Subject: Re: English/Flemish/Burgundian Medieval Comic Drama
Deborah,
Yes, there is such a beast as a Flemish/Burgundian/Brabantine
farce. Approximately 80 farce texts (the genre-designations
are "clucht", or "esbattement") have survived from the XVth-
and XVI-century Low Countries (in fact, I am preparing a
dissertation about them). So the French farce is far from
unique. And yes, many of them concern matrimonial troubles and
fights, and some of them seem to depict women in a terribly
grotesque manner, though I wouldn't characterize the genre in
general as misogynous...
As for influences: as far as I know, the "cluchten" and the
farces are fairly similar, but (Dutch) scholars usually
suppose an influence the other way round: French theatre
traditions being taken over by the `rederijkers' (who are
largely responsable for the theatre production in the XVth- &
XVIth-century Netherlands).
If you read Dutch, you might try Wim Huesken's _Noyt meerder
vreucht_ (Deventer 1987) about pre-renaissance comic theatre
in the Netherlands (or, wait for my book..!). Please tell me
more about your plans!
Femke Kramer
kramer@let.rug.nl
=========================================================================
Date: Wed, 12 Oct 1994 10:50:00 +0100
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Comments: Sent using PMDF-822 V3.0, routing is done by SARA5
From: JELLE KOOPMANS
Subject: Re: English/Flemish/Burgundian Medieval Comic Drama
Deborah,
In spite of what some French historians of drama (which is not: historians
of French drama) tend to think, the farce is most certainly not a typical
`genre' from northern France. We have records of performances from the
Savoye, from Avignon etc. There are texts from the South of France (e.g.
Beaucaire) and there is of course Alione d'Asti, the franco-italian
playwright who also wrote several farces in French. As for a possible
Burgundian influence, some precision is needed, huge parts of modern
northern France being Burgundian at the end of the XVth century. Many
records, published a.o. by Justin de Pas, La Fons de Melicocq in all
kind of local `annuaire de la societe de.....' provide definitive
proof that there must have been quite a lot of comic drama, including
farces, in Burgundy. And let's not forget that it was in Montpellier
that Rabelais and his fellows played the `morale comedie de celui qui
epousa une femme mute.
Yours,
Jelle
jkoopmans@alf.let.uva.nl
=========================================================================
Date: Wed, 12 Oct 1994 11:23:36 +0059
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: Helen Ostovich
Subject: Re: English/Flemish/Burgundian Medieval Comic Drama
In-Reply-To: <9410120449.AA16205@mcmail.cis.mcmaster.ca>
On Tue, 11 Oct 1994, Hovland, Deborah wrote:
> I am in the process of researching possible English, Flemish, and/or
> Burgundian influence on the northern French farce. I am therefore checking to
> see if any plays resembling farces (short, comic plays motivated by a trick or
> a bad turn one character plays on another) appeared in English, Flemish, or
> Burgundian repertoires, and when. French theater scholars have traditionally
> held that the farce is a uniquely northern French phenomenon, but I suspect
> that this is not the case: is there such a beast as a Flemish, Burgundian, or
> English farce???
>
> Also, did England, Flanders or Burgundy produce any literature/plays featuring
> the conflicts of husbands and wives? I already know about BurgundyUs Les
Quinze
> joies de mariage.
>
> Finally, if somebody could tell me whether, prior to 1500, Burgundy, England
> or Flanders had developed a tradition of misogynous literature/drama (akin to
> the farce, the fabliau or Les Quinze Joies de mariage), I would be very much
> obliged.
>
> Thank you,
>
> Deborah Hovland
> Department of Foreign Languages
> SUNY College at Buffalo
> Buffalo, NY
> email: HOVLANDL@snybufva.cs.snybuf.edu
>
John Heywood's JOHAN, JOHAN (1530?) is based on a French farce. The
whole tradition of English drama is misogynous, beginning with women in
cycle drama. The list would be oppressively long.
Helen Ostovich
McMaster University
=========================================================================
Date: Fri, 14 Oct 1994 17:58:17 EST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: "BURGER, DARYL ALAN"
Subscribe perform-l Daryl Burger
=========================================================================
Date: Mon, 17 Oct 1994 11:51:30 -0400
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: Joshua Brandon Holden
Subject: Re: drama 'n dance
In college I recall reading a St. Nicholas play, part of which was set in
what seemed to be a crusade. I think it was French; perhaps someone knows
what I am talking about? My notes are packed away somewhere....
---josh
Joshua Brandon Holden Brown Math Department brandon@math.brown.edu
"It's never too late to have a happy childhood!" ---Cutter John
YAZ/socrates
=========================================================================
Date: Mon, 17 Oct 1994 18:48:00 +0100
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Comments: Sent using PMDF-822 V3.0, routing is done by SARA5
From: JELLE KOOPMANS
Subject: Re: drama 'n dance
Probably, you mean the Jeu de S. Nicolas by Jean Bodel (5-12-1200?) best
edition that of A. Henry (Presses Universitaires de Bruxelles).
Jelle Koopmans
jkoopmans@alf.let.uva.nl
=========================================================================
Date: Mon, 17 Oct 1994 16:33:51 -0400
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: Steve Wright
Subject: Re: drama 'n dance
You are probablt thinking of the Jeu de Saint Nicolas by Jean Bodel.
It dates from c. 1200 and involves a battles between Christians and
Saracens.
--Steve Wright
=========================================================================
Date: Wed, 19 Oct 1994 12:28:00 CDT
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: William Proctor Williams
Subject: Graduate Conference
CALL FOR ABSTRACTS
I would like to call your attention to the 1995
Northern Illinois University Graduate Conference
on Language and Literature scheduled for Saturday,
March 25 and Sunday, March 26, 1995. Organized by
graduate students at Northern Illinois University,
the objective of this conference is to promote graduate
student participation in the academic profession.
Susan Gubar, the keynote speaker, will be speaking
on the following topics: "Feminist Criticism Revisited:
Where Are We Going, Where Have We Been?" (Saturday)
and "White Skin, Black Face: Representation of
Racechange in Twentieth-Century Culture" (Sunday).
There will also be a special session on Film and
Literature.
THE CALL FOR ABSTRACTS ENDS ON FRIDAY, JANUARY 6,
1995. Topics include all periods of American and
British literature, creative writing (submit entire
work), critical theory, film, linguistics, rhetoric and
composition, ethnic studies, gay and lesbian literature,
and textual criticism and bibliography.
Send abstracts to: Conference Director, Department of
English, Northern Illinois University,
DeKalb, IL 60115. Fax: (815)753-0606
=========================================================================
Date: Wed, 19 Oct 1994 19:16:01 -0500
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: Peter Greenfield
Subject: Last Call--RORD Census of Medieval Drama Productions
This is the last call for notices, announcements and reviews of productions
of medieval drama for inclusion in the 1995 issue of Research Opportunities
in Renaissance Drama, Medieval Supplement. I am sending out this last
request because problems with the main campus computer at my university have
caused a good deal of e-mail to be lost. If anyone has sent me an item for
the Census which I did not acknowledge by return e-mail, it was probably
lost, and I would appreciate it if you would re-send it. Those who just
haven't gotten around to sending a notice are also invited to reply for the
next week, when I will have to close submissions down for the year. Thanks
to those who have made contributions.
Peter Greenfield
Editor, Medieval Supplement, RORD
University of Puget Sound
=========================================================================
Date: Tue, 25 Oct 1994 16:33:16 EST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Comments: Resent-From: Jesse Hurlbut
Comments: Originally-From: BARRETTA@NYUACF.BITNET
From: Jesse Hurlbut
Subject: First Annual Performance Studies Conference
I thought this announcmnet might be of interest to your list.
Thank you.
Amanda Barrett
barretta@acfcluster.nyu.edu
--------------------------------------------------------------------
p l e a s e p o s t
The Performance Studies Departments of New York University
and Northwestern University are pleased to announce the
--------------------------------------------
FIRST ANNUAL PERFORMANCE STUDIES CONFERENCE
T H E F U T U R E O F T H E F I E L D
--------------------------------------------
24-26 March 1995
New York University
Submissions must be postmarked: 1 November 1994
We invite participants to question Performance Studies as an
interdisciplinary and intercultural project, to expand or
complicate existing critical paradigms, and to target areas
for future work. We welcome contributions which address a
wide range of issues, methodologies, and approaches in relation to
culture and performance.
The committee will review abstracts or, preferably, full
papers (c. 10 pages, 20 minutes); proposals for panels,
seminars, workshops, and "breakout" sessions; and performances.
Presentations which engage or critique the performance
conventions of the scholarly conference are encouraged.
NYU journals TDR and Women & Performance will also consider
papers for publication.
Registration and housing information will be mailed in January,
1995.
Send proposals and inquiries to:
Amanda Barrett and Jill Lane, Directors
Performance Studies Conference
Department of Performance Studies
Tisch School of the Arts, NYU
721 Broadway, New York, NY 10003.
phone: (212) 998-1624
e-mail: ps-conf@acfcluster.nyu.edu.
=========================================================================
Date: Wed, 26 Oct 1994 23:15:40 EDT
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: Maurice S Luker
Subject: NEH Summer Seminar
I am forwarding this message for Prof. Stephen Murray at Columbia
University:
National Endowment for the Humanities
1995 Summer Seminar for College Teachers
Director: Stephen Murray, Columbia University
Location: Reid Hall, Paris
Dates: 12 June-4 August 1995
The phenomenon of "Gothic" may be understood as part of a peculiar
unifying vision, and as a particular set of circumstances of time and
place. The exploration of the interaction and interdependence of the
great monuments of Gothic and the rapidly-changing milieu of the
twelfth and thirteenth centuries is only possible in situ. Equally
important is the interaction between these monuments and you, the
visitor. Paris provides incomparable resources in its surviving
medieval urban fabric; its great collections and research facilities
(the Bibliotheque nationale; the Centre des Recherches des Monuments
historiques, etc.) as well as ready access by train to Reims, Amiens,
Beauvais, Laon, and Troyes.
College teachers in a range of inter-related disciplines are encouraged
to apply--not just art history, but also history, religion, literature,
music, drama, and philosophy. Each of the dozen participants will
receive a stipend of $4,000. Inexpensive accommodation for all
participants has been arranged at the Cite universitaire. The deadline
for applications is March 1, 1995.
Please direct enquiries to:
Stephen Murray
c/o Summer Sessions
Columbia University
418 Lewisohn Hall
New York, NY 10027
=========================================================================
Date: Mon, 31 Oct 1994 14:50:35 +0001
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: Helen Ostovich
Subject: McMaster conference
November 18, 1994
EXPANDING THE CANON:
NEW DIMENSIONS IN ENGLISH RENAISSANCE STUDIES
8:OO am REGISTRATION -- Gilmour Hall Council Chamber
PLENARY SESSION 1 9:00-10:30
Gilmour Hall Council Chamber
Expanding the Canon: Theory and Practice
MODERATOR: Helen Ostovich (McMaster)
KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Jean E Howard (Columbia):
"Other Englands: The View from the Non-
Shakespearean History Play"
RESPONDENT: Paul Stevens (Queen's)
COFFEE 10:30-11:00
PLENARY SESSION 2 11:00-12:30
Gilmour Hall Council Chamber
Reading Dialogue and Performance
MODERATOR: Graham Roebuck (McMaster)
Judith Deitch (U of Toronto): ""`Dialogue-
wise': Rediscovering English Dialogues
1560-1603"
Leslie S. Katz (Amherst): "`Sweete Sir
Timothie, kind sir Timothie, tough sir
Timothie': Voicing Robert Armin's Quips
upon Questions"
Stephanie Wright: "A Text without a Space:
Performing The Tragedy of Miriam"
LUNCH 12:30-2:00
Commons Building, Small Dining Room
CONCURRENT SESSIONS 3 AND 4 2:00-3:30
(3) Gilmour Hall Council Chamber
Show and Tell: Spectacle as Meaning
MODERATOR: Mary Silcox (McMaster)
John Astington (U of Toronto): "The Ages of
Man and the Lord Mayor's Show"
Candy Loren (U of Toronto): "`To enter Gods
house, as if it were a Play-house': The
Jacobean `Man-Woman' Transgressively
Reinscribed in the Role of Spectator"
Philip Collington (U of Toronto):
"Middleton, Whitney and Wither:
Stagecraft `in the Light of the Emblem'"
(4) University Hall 122
The Bible and Meditative Tradition
MODERATOR: James Dale (McMaster)
Noam Flinker (U of Haifa): "Biblical Poetry
in the Context of Mid-Sixteenth-Century
Political Tension: The Case of William
Baldwin's The Canticles, or Balades of
Salomon"
Kel Morin (U of Ottawa): "`Thus crave I
mercy': The Preface of Anne Locke"
John Ottenhoff (Alma College, MI):
"Meditating upon Anne Locke's
Meditations"
COFFEE 3:30-4:00
CONCURRENT SESSIONS 5 AND 6 4:00-5:30
(5) Gilmour Hall Council Chamber
Women's Ordeals
MODERATOR: Joan Coldwell (McMaster)
Stanley D. McKenzie (Rochester Institute of
Technology): "`I to my selfe am
strange': The Competing Voices of
Drayton's `Mistress Shore'"
Karen Bamford (Mount Allison): "Sexual
Violence in the Queen of Corinth"
Anthony Martin (Waseda University, Tokyo):
"The `Voice' of an African Woman:
George Herbert's `Aethiopissa'"
(6) University Hall 122
Reading and Writing Kings
MODERATOR: Tom Cain (McMaster)
Joan Parks (U of Wisconsin): "Elizabeth
Cary's Domestic History"
Louise Nichols (U du Quebec a Chicoutimi):
"`My name was known before I came': The
Heroic Identity of the Prince in The
Famous Victories of Henry V"
Sandra Bell (Queens): "The King Writing:
King James VI and Lepanto"
CASH BAR 5:30-7:00
Commons Building, Dining Room
DINNER 7:00
REGISTRATION -- EXPANDING THE CANON
A conference for the rediscovery and exploration of neglected
areas of English writings, 1560-1625, such as non-Shakespearean
drama, particularly lesser known works; poets other than
Shakespeare, Sidney, Spenser, Donne; letters and diaries; travel
literature; popular culture; woemn's writings; emblem books;
masques; prose fiction.
Keynote Speaker: Jean Howard (Columbia University)
"Other Englands: The View from the Non-
Shakespearean History Play"
Respondent: Paul Stevens (Queen's University)
Sponsored by the McMaster University English Association
THE CONFERENCE
8:00 am REGISTRATION The Council Chamber, Gilmour Hall
Coffee & tea served
9:00 am KEYNOTE ADDRESS
Response
10:30 am Coffee Break
11:00 am PANEL OF SPEAKERS
12:30 pm LUNCHEON (included in registration fee)
2:00 pm PANEL OF SPEAKERS
3:30 pm Coffee Break
4:00 pm PANEL OF SPEAKERS
5:30 pm Cash Bar
7:00 pm Dinner -- Buffet of 4 salads, 2 entrees (Chicken
with wild mushrooms; Striploin of Beef au jus);
potatoes and vegetables; choice of desserts; wine;
tea & coffee. OPTIONAL: COST $28.00. PLEASE
RESERVE WITH REGISTRATION FORM.
CONFERENCE HOTEL: Visitors Inn, 649 Main St W, Hamilton ON L8S
1A2 -- (905)529-6979. Please contact hotel directly and request
conference rate: $63 single; $68 double (+ tax). Early
reservations advised.
PARKING: Conference parking spaces available. Sterling St.
entrance to campus.
The full programme with names of all speakers and titles of
papers will be available after Oct 15.
More information from Mary Silcox (905) 525-9140 x27314
and Helen Ostovich x24496, or email ostovich@mcmaster.ca
REGISTRATION FORM
NAME:____________________________________________________________
ADDRESS:_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
TELEPHONE: Business___________________ Home:_______________
Registration fee (Canadian funds): Regular = $20
student = $10
dinner = $28
___________________
TOTAL
Current exchange rate of US $ is approximately $1 US: $1.40 Cdn.
Please return this form and cheque (made out to McMaster
University in Canadian funds) to the address following by FRIDAY
NOVEMBER 4:
Mrs Clover Nixon
Department of English
McMaster University
Hamilton, Ontario
Canada L8S 4L9
=========================================================================
Date: Mon, 31 Oct 1994 18:42:00 CST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: William Proctor Williams
Subject: BRITISH LIBRARY
I am posting the following message from the British Library
Regular Readers' Group (RRG) to several lists since the
information it contains may be of general interest (apologies for
the duplication in advance); mentions of the library's problems
have been turning up in various academic/scholarly newsletters
and journals such as the +East-Central Intelligencer+ and the
newsletter of the Johnson Society of the Central Region. For
those who have not been following the saga but are interested,
this is a brief (and obviously over-simplified) outline: the
grand original 1978 plan has been so cut that despite the
unfortunate, disaster-prone new library's cost (450 million
pounds so far), its storage will be full when it opens, whenever
that may be, and there will be only 73 more seats for readers--a
high price to pay for the loss of the Round Reading Room and the
King's Library. What follows is a digest of the material
contained in the October 1994 +Newsletter+ of the RRG.
----------------------------------------------------
The British Library's new St. Pancras building is perhaps even
further from completion: various essential elements of the
building are either defective, already out of date, or subject to
disputes between the contractors and the Department of National
Heritage. There remains NO PROJECTED OPENING DATE.
The RRG has published a revised edition of its report: +The Great
British Library Disaster+ (copies can be obtained either by
sending 5.00 pounds to the RRG or by sending $5.00 to me for a
photocopy of the report--addresses at the end of this posting).
On 30 June the Commons Select Committee for National Heritage
held a hearing and called witnesses (among these were the RRG,
Brian Lang and Sir Anthony Kenny of the British Library, and
Peter Brooke, then Secretary of State for National Heritage). In
the end the Select Committee called for: the retention of the
Round Reading Room as an integral part of the British Library "in
perpetuity"; an inquiry, chaired by an Ombudsman, to investigate
what has gone wrong at St. Pancras; the retention of the rest of
the St. Pancras site for use by the British Library in the
future.
The RRG has been consulted by the National Audit Office about the
framework for their own enquiries. The RRG has also attempted to
meet with the new Secretary of State for National Heritage,
Stephen Dorrell, but has been turned down. The RRG has had talks
with Labour MP Mo Mowlam (Shadow spokesman on National Heritage)
and Robert McClennan (President of the Liberal Democrats).
The month of November will be crucial. Gerald Kaufman, MP
(Chairman of the Select Committee) has made it clear he plans to
pursue the matters; the government, through the Department of
Heritage, must make a response to the Select Committee's
recommendations by the end of the month.
The RRG urges that you write to Stephen Dorrell as soon as
possible, no matter where you live (The Rt. Hon. Stephen Dorrell,
Secretary of State for National Heritage, 2-4 Cockspur Street,
London SW1Y 5DH). If you live in the UK, the RRG urges you also
to write to your MP.
Finally, the RRG is very short of funds and all donations will be
gratefully received. Cheques drawn on sterling accounts or other
foreign accounts should be made payable to The Regular Readers'
Group and sent to the London address. Checks drawn on US dollar
accounts should be made payable to W. P. Williams, with the Memo
line indicating RRG, and sent to the DeKalb, IL address.
---------------------------------------------------
That is the end of the digest. If you have further questions or
want further information, please do not hesitate to contact me by
e-mail, snail mail, or telephone.
In London RRG officers are: Etrenne Lymbery, Chairman, and Brian
Lake, Secretary. 46 Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3PA;
Telephone 071 631 4220; Fax 071 436 6544.
In North America: William Proctor Williams, President for North
America. Department of English, Northern Illinois University,
DeKalb, IL 60115; Telephone (815)753-6608; Fax (815)753-0606; e-
mail TB0WPW1@NIU.BITNET.
Thanks for your patience with this long posting and WRITE STEPHEN
DORRELL SOON!