Although the focus here is clearly on British actresses, the conference organisers would be interested to see papers, in English, on continental actresses.
Chawton House Library
Chawton, Alton
Hampshire GU34 1SJ, United Kingdom
July 9-10 2015.
The stage offered women an unprecedented freedom to speak out. It was a place where women were listened to, where they were respected, and where they had the potential to out-earn their male colleagues. This two-day interdisciplinary conference will explore all the ways in which actresses were invested with authority, either as authors of texts, of characters, or of their own personae. We invite proposals for individual papers, panels, performances or provocations on any element of « the actress as author. »
Potential topics might include, but are not limited to:
Actresses as playwrights, poets, journalists, critics, and/or novelists
Actresses and autobiography
The actress and the one-woman show
Actresses authoring their careers
Actresses as theatrical managers
Actresses who create « « author » » their roles
Actresses and public addresses, speeches and/or letters
Actresses and private theatricals
Actresses as authorizers of trends (fashionable, political, literary)
Please send a 250-300 word abstract to:
Elaine McGirr (elaine.mcgirr@rhul.ac.uk) and Laura
Engel (engell784@duq.edu) by December 19, 2014.