H[/ropcap]ow is time depicted in Theatre? And how is it inscribed as a memory on the spectator’s consciousness when the fleeing unique moment of the theatre performance ceases to be, and the “once and only one time”of the stage representation becomes part of the spectator’s deposit of similar experiences?
Is this the time of the play and the characters depicted on stage? Or the subjective time of the performers, objectively incorporated in the aforementioned time? Or is this the time of the performance measured by the clock, and accordingly the time of the spectators watching it? And yet, how are these two parameters combined?
In fact, where is the spectator situated during this unique moment of the stage event: in the objective subjectivity of the performance time or in the subjective objectivity of the experienced time, of an eventually “timed reality”? And last but not least, what is left in the spectator’s consciousness at the end of a specific theatre experience? What is it that remains in one’s memory among all the spectacular stage elements? Certain lines, gestures and expressions?What? The music score? Certain sounds or visual elements or a combination of all these? And if so, which combination?
The spectators’ future reception is to a certain degree determined by such memories and the correlation of the subjective with the objective particulars that surround them. Similarly, these shape their evaluationcriteria of any future theatre experience.
All the above become even more important in the case of children and young audiences whotend to identify with the characters and experience a performancemore intensely than adults. Similarly, their personality traits can be affected in ways possibly crucial for their future lives.
These are some of the questions to be addressed in the Conference “Time in the Theatre: Memory of a Timeless Present”: 23-25 May 2019in Athens. The conference is organised by the Research Programme “Theatre Memory in Students of the 5th Grade of Elementary School” (MIS5006824), Laboratory of Art and Speech and the Department of Humanities of the Faculty of Primary Educationof the University of Athens, and the MarasleioDidaskaleio. Specialist researchers and scientists, established university scholars and PhD candidates, theatre practitioners and theatre pedagogists from Greece and abroad, with research interests and publications in the fields of Theatre Studies, Education, Psychology and Sociology have been invited to participate.
As your research, scientific and artistic work relates to aspects of this subject, we would like to invite you as well to the Conference with a proposal or a workshop, which, we believe, will further contribute to the research on the subject and enrich relevant literature.
The languages of the Conference will be Greek and English.
Proposals of a maximum 300-word abstract and a maximum 300-word biography should be sent by 30 September 2018 (e-mail: tgramma@primedu.uoa.gr and mzora@primedu.uoa.gr)
You will receive an answer from the organizing committee by 30 November 2018. Useful information about the Conference will be posted on the following websites:
The President of the Organizing Committee
Prof. Theodore Grammatas
Faculty of Primary Education, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
President of the Marasleio Didaskaleio
