CALL FOR PAPERS
52nd Annual Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC)
History/Theory/Criticism/Literature Interest Group
Jacksonville, Florida (March 14-18, 2001)
(Re)reading 1930s Broadway Theatre
Mainstream theatrical entertainment during the 1930s has been neglected =
and rendered insignificant by many contemporary scholars. It is the =
history surrounding those politically and socially motivated companies =
like the Group Theatre, the Theatre Union, the Theatre Collective, the =
Theatre of Action and the Federal Theatre Project (In particular, its =
Living Newspapers) that continues to define New York theater of the =
thirties. As scholar Sam Smiley has written, the new and radical theater =
organizations of the thirties were "a minority within the profession" as =
most "playwrights, then as now, chose to grapple for financial gain by =
composing commercial entertainment rather than create art or participate =
in politics." It is my contention, however, that one can learn a lot =
about a culture from its "commercial entertainment," especially when =
seeking to uncover the sociopolitical nuances that such works may have =
attempted to render mute or imperceptible.
Paper proposals (300-500 words) will be expected to address how =
successful Broadway plays and musicals of the period did engage (however =
furtively) significant issues of race, gender, sexuality and class. =
Proposals may also explore how Broadway productions of the 1930s =
attempted to deny such issues in order to legitimize and reproduce the =
beliefs and opinions of the majority culture. All topics and theoretical =
approaches are welcome.
Please send proposals to the following e-mail address no later than =
August 10, 2000:
Jeff Turner
Division of Fine Arts
Department of Theatre Studies
Maryville College
502 E. Lamar Alexander Parkway
Maryville, Tennessee 37804
===============================================
From the Literary Calls for Papers Mailing List
CFP@english.upenn.edu
Full Information at
http://www.english.upenn.edu/CFP/
or write Erika Lin: elin@english.upenn.edu
===============================================
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Tue Jul 11 2000 - 15:54:37 EDT