Translating Performance

The International Perspectives on Performance (IPOP) research group of the Department of Drama and Theatre, Royal Holloway University of London,
is hosting a pair of by the department’s two honorary research associates, anthropologist/historian Dr. Laura Noszlopy and theatre director Yana Zarifi.

These talks will take place on Tuesday 31 May at 5.15pm at the Centre for International Theatre and Performance Research (adjacent to the Boilerhouse Theatre)
at the University.

John Coast: The Exceptional Life and Works of an English Impresario

Dr. Laura Noszlopy

This is a brief introduction to the life and works of celebrated English impresario John Coast. My talk will focus on his unconventional route into the theatre business and his adventures in Southeast Asia and beyond. I will also be exploring the nature of (auto) biographical writing, and the delights and challenges of retelling the life-story of a serial memoirist.

Checks and Balances in a Greek-Balinese Merger

Yana Zarifi

This talk will be a set of reflections following Thiasos’ adaptation of the Greek tragedy, Euripides’ Hippolytos, as an Indonesian dance-drama (1998-2004).
The artistic syncretism of Balinese Topeng and original Greek choral lyrics set to Javanese dance generated new questions regarding past and present performance of what is thought of as Greek theatre: does Greek theatre performance seen through the filter of Balinese Topeng throw light on the time-honoured distinction between tragedy and comedy? What does it tell us about the poetics of trance? After addressing common misconceptions about ancient Greek theatre, I shall ask in what ways, if any, Balinese performance genres might be illuminated by encounters with elements of Greek drama. The talk will be illustrated by excerpts from the Hippolytos.