Jamie Thraves visits the Department

On Wednesday 7^th March, Film Director Jamie Thraves visited the Department. He led a directing masterclass for students specialising in film practice in the morning, in the Film & Television Studio of the Minghella Building. In the afternoon there was a Q&A in The Cinema for a wider audience, during which Thraves discussed a sequence of his film The Cry of the Owl (2009), talked about his approach to directing more generally, and answered questions on his pop promos, including the famous video for the Radiohead song Just.

Thraves’ most recent feature, Treacle Jr (2010), is now available on DVD, or to rent or purchase from iTunes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_qMagfZtv8

Upcoming conference: ‘Performance and Television Space’

Upcoming conference: ‘Performance and Television Space’

 

This will be the second one-day event arising from the AHRC Spaces of Television: Production, Site and Style project. The project is led by Professor Jonathan Bignell (University of Reading) in collaboration with Professor James Chapman (University of Leicester) and Professor Stephen Lacey (University of Glamorgan).  The conference will be on Friday 20 April 2012, and will be held at
The ATRiuM, 86-88 Adam Street, Cardiff CF24 2FN.  The
registration fee is £25 (£20 students and unwaged).

 

 

The conference will focus on performance and its relationship to television space, with a particular – though not exclusive – emphasis on UK television drama 1955-1994, the period covered by the ‘Spaces of Television’ project.

The keynote address will be given by Professor Christine Geraghty (Glasgow): ‘Twitchy editing and careening cameras’: the presentation of performance in Bleak House (2005): this paper will comment on the impact of setting on the presentation of performance in two BBC adaptations of Charles Dickens’s Bleak House in 1985 and 2005

The symposium will contain four panels:

     Genre Performance;

     Performing Studio Language and Practices;

     Theatrical Performance; and

     Community Performance.

 

In what promises to be a very stimulating day, presentations will range widely; from an analysis of performance and space in dinner-table scenes in Coronation St (1960-) and Bar Mitzvah Boy (1976) to the criminal location as performance space in Z Cars (1960-78) and Strangers (1978-82); from the influence of the actor’s union, Equity, on BBC studio drama to the relationships between radical black theatre and television performance in Black Feet in the Snow (1974); and from feminism and studio performance in Rock Follies (1976) to Lindsay Anderson’s Brechtian TV drama, The Old Crowd (BBC 1979)

The day will include an interview with the actor Maurice Roeves (Tutti Frutti, The Journal of Bridget Hitler, Doctor Who, Danger UXB).

For more information and to book, follow these links:

     Booking form

     Conference programme (this may be subject to minor alteration)

     Abstracts

     Travel and accommodation information

 

Further further enquiries, please contact: Stephen Lacey: swlacey@glam.ac.uk

SCUDD 2012: Transitions: from education, across cultures and into employment

Standing Conference of University Drama Departments Conference

30th – 31st March 2012

Transitions: from education, across cultures and into employment

30th- 31st March 2012

The Conference will begin at 12pm on Friday 30^th March with registration and a buffet lunch. Over the course of the two days there will be six sessions, including a panel on the REF and the SCUDD AGM:

Welcome and Introductory Talks – Following the welcome, there will be an opening presentation.

Panels

Internationalisation – A panel of speakers will address the current demand for universities to develop a stronger international dimension and to engage more broadly with the global demands for higher education, both in terms of attracting students to British Universities and opening up opportunities for British Students to study abroad in more diverse ways.

Transition into HE – As universities are encouraged to cast their net more widely in their recruitment of students whose demands and priorities will be shaped by the new economic climate, so HE institutions will have to adapt to meet the concerns of students, many of whom may be the first family member to go to university, and parents, anxious about the financial impact of higher fees. The moment of transition from school to Higher Education will be critical in introducing new students to ways of successfully managing the demands made by the new learning environment.

Employability – A panel of speakers from different areas of arts administration will debate the diverse range of opportunities available for students completing theatre and performance based degrees. There will be an opportunity for Q&As which will develop a discussion around the skills and qualities required by young people wanting to work in the arts industries today.

REF – This will be an opportunity for discussion of developments with regard to the REF. Q&A can be directed to a group from the Dance Drama and Performing Arts Panel.

Reception and Conference Dinner – On Friday 30^th March a wine reception and book launch will precede the conference dinner, which will be held in a restaurant in Reading, Dolce Vita. (Please note the conference dinner is payable for separately.)

SCUDD AGM – this will take place on Saturday 31^st March at 2.15pm.

 

More information and booking at Registration:

http://www.reading.ac.uk/ftt/research/SCUDD_Conference.aspx 

 

Festival of Film and Theatre – Year 3 BA Film and Theatre Finalists: Programme of Events

Festival of Film and Theatre – Year 3 BA Film and Theatre Finalists: Programme of Events

The Minghella Building: Monday 12^th March – Friday 16^th March 2012

Films – The Minghella Cinema

Group 1

Wednesday 14th March 2.00 – 3.15 & Friday 16th March 3.30 – 4.45

 Bethan Harris – The Unknown Body

Exploring the female form and its beauty.

Billy Langsworthy – Disembowelling Horror

A documentary exploring and dissecting the horror genre’s ability to create memorable big screen moments.

 Frankie Lanfranchi – Through Sun-Split Clouds

Regrets are part of our lives, but what if you could go back and change them, rewrite the past and win her back?

Gavin Kennedy – Eye Mitai

Three students are having another normal day, chilling out as one of them, Mike, tries harder and harder to develop a way to tell Sarah he likes her.

 Jo Green – Unworthy

James Fisher has just returned from fighting in World War II. As he attempts to fit back into society, James frequently suffers from vivid flashbacks of the war. Will James ever get back to normality or will his post-traumatic stress disorder take over?

 

Group 2

Wednesday 14th March 3.30 – 4.45 & Thursday 15th March 2.00 – 3.15

Charlotte Hobday – Instinct

An infection sweeps across humanity causing large amounts of the population to become cannibalistic creatures. But it isn’t just the infected that should be feared. When our instincts kick in how far are people willing to go to ensure their own survival and the survival of the human race? 

Katy Lister – Eat Cake

A woman’s vain obsession with beauty, products and modern consumerism. You want it? You got it. Now eat it.

 Rasa Putnaite – Intermission

What happens after the movies?

 Sarah Byrne – My Sad Night

The gradual revelation of a secret that will have a huge impact on an already fragile relationship and the three different ways the couple tries to deal with it.

 

 

Group 3

Thursday 15th March 3.30 – 4.45 & Friday 16th March 2.00 – 3.15

Aurelija Stankunaite – To Be Frank

I have a job; I own a suit; I wear a tie. I guess you could say that my life is – okay.

 Finlay Sutton-Parsons – Fit The Stereotype

Three lifelong friends have to face a ruthless killer whose aim is to rid the world of sin. In a world where stereotype and prejudice prevail, will these unlikely heroes get the help they desperately need, or will they be shunned and left to face these horrors alone?

 Jon Pike – Circle

A glimpse at what humanity has done to the planet and to itself.

 Jose Law – Sins of the Serpent

A contemporary adaptation of Charles Perrault’s infamous folktale, ‘Bluebeard’.

Louisa Harris – Jimmy
The uneventful life of a lonely man.

Lena Kwiatkowska – Anka

On the day of her 19th birthday, Anka embarks on a journey to the past where she faces her long forgotten dreams and a loss which has cast a shadow on her entire life.

Theatre

Marina Michelson – My Arm By Tim Crouch in Bob Kayley Theatre – Mon. 12^th March at 12.00 & Wed. 14^th March at 6.00.

A one off guided talk into the history of memories of “the boy with the arm”, commenting on notions of modern art through the life story of one unique individual.

 Elliott Hollings – A Summer’s Day By Jon Fosse in the Studio Space – Mon. 12^th March at 5.00 & Thurs. 15^th March at 11.00.

A preserving and wasting of time. The story of how past events shape the future to leave only distant memories.

 Ollie Wright – Rhinoceros By Eugene Ionesco in Bulmershe Theatre – Mon. 12^th March at 6.00 & Thurs. 15^th March at 12.00.

When a rhinoceros charges across the town square one Sunday afternoon, Berenger thinks nothing of it. Soon, however, rhinoceroses are popping up everywhere and Berenger’s whole world is under threat. What will it take for him to stand up to the increasing menace of rhinocerisation? Martin Crimp’s translation of Ionesco’s iconic satire on mindlessness and conformity.

 Lewis Mercato – The Trial By Steven Berkoff  in Bob Kayley Theatre – Tues. 13^th March at 11.00 & Thurs. 15^th March at 5.00.

Joseph K awakes to find two strange men in his room informing him he has been arrested. He soon learns that his trial, however odd, is very real. The Trial charts K’s descent as he attempts to fight against an inaccessible authority. On his journey, K meets many peculiar characters, but are they really there to help him?

Dan Whateley – Parlour Song By Jez Butterworth in Bulmershe Theatre – Tues. 13^th March at 12.00 & Wed. 14^th March at 5.00.

Ned’s possessions are being stolen. He suspects his wife Joy and confides in his neighbour Dale. A dark look at British suburban life. It is a world where everything is disappearing: “both funny and unsettling”.

Hannah Baxendale – Penetrator By Anthony Neilson in the Studio Space – Tues. 13^th March at 5.00 & Fri. 16^th March at 6.00.

A grotesque yet oddly accessible tale of perversion and repression. At the centre are two roommates and their childhood friend, a multiple-personality case who has returned from the army and reveals he has been tortured by a secret militant group called The Penetrators. The group’s mission: to create mass panic through a campaign of sexual terror.

 Jake McLaughlin  – A Girl In A Car With A Man By Rob Evans in Bulmershe Theatre – Tues. 13^th March at 6.00 & Fri. 16^th March at 11.00.

Stella’s left the TV studio after her daily slot. Alex is up for a big night out. Paula is watching video tapes. David has opted for a quiet evening in. But this is no ordinary night – there’s an abduction on the news and it won’t stop raining.

 Susie Pincock – The Invisible Backpack By Susie Pincock in Bob Kayley Theatre – Wed. 14^th March at 11.00 & Fri. 16^th March at 6.00.

Four people have been kicked off an overbooked flight. Tensions rise as small talk turns to politics and they find an unaccompanied bag, with nobody else in the airport at all.

 Emma Chapman – Orphans By Dennis Kelly in the Studio Space – Wed. 14^th March at 12.00 & Thurs. 15^th March at 6.00.

Helen and Danny are enjoying a romantic meal when Liam, Helen’s brother bursts in covered in blood. As the truth unfolds the evening becomes more unsettling; the characters begin to uncover the toxic and terrifying effects of human nature and expose the horrors that lie on our doorsteps.