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Filming and Performing Renaissance History: Temporalities and Materialities
Report
24-26 April 2009
Present: Ruth Abraham, Pascale Aebischer, Benjamin Andréo, Anke Bernau, Tom Betteridge, David Bradby, Victoria Brownlee, Mark Thornton Burnett, Kerrie Clarke, John Corner, Jerome de Groot, Michael Dobson, Ann Gray, Paul Frazer, Laura Gallagher, Edel Lamb, Fionnuala Lenaghan, Suzannah Lipscomb, Eleanor Lowe, Mary-Ellen Lynn, Jonathan Malone, Luke McKernan, Kevin Murray, John O’Brien, Roberta Pearson, Martin Prochazka, Emma Rhatigan, Brendan Savage, James Sharpe, Conor Smyth, Adrian Streete, Nicola J. Watson, Martin White, Wes Williams, Ramona Wray
Saturday, 25 April
Paper Session One
John Corner, University of Liverpool
Sensing the Past: The Historical Optics of ‘Documentary’
John Corner’s paper discussed how documentary television related to constructions of the Renaissance in the context of the nature of the genre and shifts in programming from the 1990s onwards. Examples included a Timewatch documentary about the Mary Rose, a Simon Sharma documentary about Elizabeth, and a Humphrey Jennings documentary about the 1952 Festival of Britain.
Catherine Richardson, University of Kent
Writing the Material: Objects, Contexts and Narratives of History
This paper explored how we conceive of early modern domestic spaces in terms of wills and inventories, raising in the process questions about rooms, fiction, gender, authority and visual signifiers. It proceeded to discuss the work of Philippa Gregory and the film, The Other Boleyn Girl.
In discussion, Roberta Pearson, citing Michael Wood’s work, added another documentary pairing – continuity and disruption. John Corner noted that the past was both like and unlike the present. Adrian Streete raised the issue of materiality in its Marxist and non-Marxist usages. Martin White commented on the tendency in early modern studies to look for the exotic and reflected on theatrical activity and its larger role, on different forms of dramatization and on the drama of witnessing an artefact. He noted differences of viewpoint between Shakespeare’s Globe and the Tudor Society. The point was built upon by Suzannah Lipscomb in her observation that we need to make the records speak, to speak out of the records, in what are sometimes awkward enactments. Martin Prochazka noted the ways in which mimesis could be subservient to historical reconstruction. In subsequent discussion about documentary, Ann Gray remarked on the differences between recreation and reconstruction from the industry’s perspective. Wes Williams commented on the ways in which Shakespeare is perceived as ordinary and Henry VIII as extraordinary in some constructions, while Mark Thornton Burnett suggested that feature film and documentary were increasingly cross-fertilizing genres.
Paper Session Two
James Sharpe, University of York
The Cinematic Treatment of Early Modern Witch Trials
This paper discussed a number of films about witchcraft in terms of a ‘history from below’ agenda and developments in social history over the past thirty years. It noted different modes of reconstruction and pointed up important issues of fidelity, accessibility, individuality and context.
Anke Bernau, University of Manchester
Imagining the Medieval and Renaissance on Film
Anke Bernau reflected in her paper on film, medieval studies and ‘medievalism’. She noted debate between film studies critics and medievalists and, in a discussion of intertextuality, marketing and production, suggested that, in the popular consciousness, ‘medieval’ = ‘fantasy’ while ‘Renaissance’ = ‘history’.
Pascale Aebischer, University of Exeter
Consuming the Renaissance: Cannibalism in the Contemporary Jacobean film
Pascale Aebischer discussed constructions of the Renaissance in recent popular film in the context of discourses of cannibalism. She noted the deconstructive tendencies of modern film and the logic whereby the Renaissance, used as a marker or mood, can function as other to notions of a civilized self.
Discussion initially centred on Old Testament ideas of excess, difference and cannibalism (Martin Prochazka) before going on to related Shakespearean parallels such as the film, Scotland, PA (Michael Dobson). Anke Bernau drew attention to the medieval tradition of eating texts and crusade romances about Richard the Lionheart in which the hero is fed the body of a Saracen. Pascale Aebischer alluded to related films such as Titus and Edward II in which comedy is sometimes at the forefront. Michael Dobson asked about medievalists and pantomime; Anke Bernau replied that medievalism is a new field. James Sharpe noted the usefulness of teaching witch films to students. David Bradby, drawing attention to the film, Lancelot, asked if medievalism is contested in film. Anke Bernau stated that films challenge categorization and that the films she was exploring, which were more associated with Hollywood rather than the art-house, offer particular points of view not necessarily typical of other national cultures/cinemas.
Paper Session Three
Michael Dobson, BirkbeckCollege, University of London
The Pageant of History: Processions, Festival Culture and the Representation of the Tudors
Michael Dobson’s paper discussed pageants of history and amateur dramatic performance as part of a recognizable and important English history. He concentrated on the popularity of reconstructions of the Renaissance, relations between pageants and film, the growth of festival culture, and the modern death of the pageant form.
Eleanor Lowe, OxfordBrookesUniversity
Living History: The Experience of Authenticity
This paper focused on the re-enactment work of the ‘Tudor Group’ as part of a discussion of how we understand ‘living history’. It drew attention to museums and clients, experiences drawn from experience and constructions of domestic performance.
Nicola J. Watson, Open University
Consuming the Renaissance
Nicola J. Watson examined Shakespeare birthday feasts and Shakespeare-related cookery publications as part of the tourist and heritage industry. Differences between the US and Britain, and between the public lunch and the private dinner, were raised.
Discussion started with Wes Williams commenting on the role of the amateur in all of the papers. Michael Dobson pointed out that discussion of the amateur was a recent phenomenon that brought to mind nostalgia for hospitality and gift exchange. Nicola J. Watson commented on the importance of dining clubs, souvenirs and cultures of performance and suggested that these forms of representation needed to be better integrated in our fields of study. Eleanor Lowe remarked that amateurs can also be professionals. John Corner asked about forms of self-consciousness: was the ‘Tudor Group’, in its level of immersion in an imagined past, existential? Eleanor Lowe replied that the initiative was both ‘crazy and interesting’ and that individual aspects of the past were explored by the group’s members. This, she suggested, was a form of practice-based research. Nicola J. Watson commented that re-enactment is a recent phenomenon and that film has taken us away from lived representations. Records of these activities, she suggested, should be kept.
Paper Session Four
Ramona Wray, Queen’s University, Belfast
Henry’s Desperate Housewives: The Tudors, the Politics of Historiography and the Beautiful Body of Jonathan Rhys Meyers
Ramona Wray’s paper attended to the series, The Tudors, in relation to ‘Shakespearean cinema’, an unprecedented vision of the Renaissance, the starring role of Jonathan Rhys Meyers and academic/critical controversy.
Thomas Betteridge, OxfordBrookesUniversity, and Suzannah Lipscomb, HamptonCourtPalace and KingstonUniversity
Heritage and Public History: Henry VIII in 2009
This paper explored the process of planning for a new interpretation of the Tudor palace at Hampton Court to mark the 500th anniversary of Henry VIII’s accession in 2009. It examined the ways in which a consensus was built between academic and public history.
Edel Lamb, UniversityCollege, Dublin
‘Heroes do not look like Henry VIII: that is just the world we live in’:
Reimagining the Aging Body of Henry VIII
This paper explored the ways in which contemporary representations of Henry VIII reimagine the temporalities and materialities of the King and his reign. Focusing on the controversial portrayal of Henry as a young and handsome ruler in the casting of Jonathan Rhys Meyers in The Tudors, it examined the ways in which this representation of Henry’s aged and physical identity revisited and appropriated earlier depictions of the King to reimagine Henry in the context of cultural preoccupations with youth and beauty.
Ann Gray began discussion by asking Suzannah Lipscomb and Thomas Betteridge how they thought their target audience to Hampton Court would be affected by the representation of the Tudor period in the BBC series. In particular, she wondered about the implications of the audience’s association of Henry VIII with the beauty and youth embodied through Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Suzannah Lipscomb responded by acknowledging that this had been a consideration in the planning stages for the new exhibition and a driving force behind the inclusion of the section entitled ‘The Young Henry VIII’ which addresses the King’s twenty-year marriage to Catherine of Aragon. Susannah Lipscomb stressed the need for historical accuracy, reminding the audience that Hampton Court was built later in Henry’s life and so the story to be told is one in which Henry is older.
Following on from this, Adrian Streete wondered if the The Tudors depicteda modern connection between youth and politics as Henry is represented as younger than the other authority figures but yet the most powerful. He asked members of the panel if they felt that this was a comment on modern democracy, given the context of leaders like Tony Blair and Barack Obama. Ramona Wray commented that a father and son motif was definitely evident throughout The Tudors(especially between Cardinal Wolsey and Henry), while the rest of the panel felt there was certainly a modern tinge to the association between a youthful body and leadership in the series.
Discussion followed, introduced by Nicola J. Watson, on whether the series is marked by American celebrity culture and Hollywood movie demands. Suzannah Lipscomb noted that the violence represented is evidenced by documents from the period and was not simply a means of widening audience appeal. Edel Lamb added that the avoidance of the aging body in the series was probably the most obvious signifier of its Hollywood considerations. Jerome de Groot closed discussion by noting that, if history is celebrated simply because it is popular, this is ultimately deeply concerning.
Paper Session Five
Martin Prochazka, CharlesUniversity, Prague
The Golem, or the Communist ‘What You Will’
This paper discussed the 1952 Czechoslovak film, The Emperor’s Baker and the Golem(Císařův pekař a pekařův císař) as an example of Czech constructions of the Renaissance. This comedy not only demonstrated the control the regime had assumed over the cultural scene but revealed the absolute dedication of Czech artists to the causes of the Communist revolution. The film, which became one of the most successful works of popular entertainment, was among the first Czechoslovak colour movies to be exported to the West as a propaganda piece. The paper discussed the avant-garde and communist rewritings of the Golem myth and the representation of Rudolph’s Renaissance court full of alchemists and astrologers as the eve of a Communist utopia.
Luke McKernan, British Library
Capturing the Medium: Issues and Opportunities for Constructing a Database of Audiovisual Shakespeare Productions
The International Database of Shakespeare on Film, Television and Radio ( is an online database which attempts to capture, describe, classify and make available to researchers the entirety of Shakespeare across the three media. This paper described the background to this project, from its academic rationale to the challenges of defining and describing a subject whose parameters are continually expanding.
Martin White, University of Bristol
Performing Theatre History in a Digital Age
This paperoutlined some experiments with artificial light in the reconstruction of indoor Jacobean theatres at the University of Bristol and illustrated how the project’s effects have been documented using digital technologies. The results are now disseminated via DVD and web-streaming, and the paper pointed the audience to the Chamber of Demonstrations website (
Mark Thornton Burnett asked in discussion if the BUFVC had contemplated an in-situ collection of material contents at a single geographical site; Luke McKernan replied that this was a longer-term objective. Mark Thornton Burnett spoke of the possibility of conversation between the BUFVC database and the forthcoming database for the current networks project. Michael Dobson commented on the uniqueness and value of Czech constructions of the Renaissance. David Bradby asked about shadows cast by the actors; Martin White replied that this was a product of lighting from the front of the stage. David Bradby also drew attention to French research on lighting in early modern theatres.
Sunday, 26 April
Paper Session Six
John O’Brien, Royal Holloway, University of London‘The Touch of Man on Woman’: Temporalities and Materialities in the Martin Guerre Case
This paper looked at scenes from the film The Return of Martin Guerreand considered, among other topics, how bodies are constructed as standing before the law, the gender implications of the film and early accounts, the use of flashback as a narrative device, the materiality of desire and the status of an oral record that constantly slips away from other systems of identification.
Ann Gray, University of Lincoln
Televising History 1995-2010: Where is the Renaissance?
Ann Gray reflected in her paper on a four-year AHRC funded project, based at the University of Lincoln, on the many genres of ‘factual’ television history programming and the context of their commissioning and production. Themes considered included assumptions about the audience, the use of an advisory board, the social element of commissioning and particular discourses used in the reconstruction of history.
Roberta Pearson, University of Nottingham
A Shakespeare Sized Hole: Shakespeare, the Renaissance and the Twenty-First Century
This paper considered a host of recent reconstructions of the life of Shakespeare, from recent biographies to episodes of Dr Who. It understood these representations inside emergent reading formations, the ideological functions of genre and political contexts of surveillance.
Questions included that put by Mark Thornton Burnett who asked if surveillance was a concern that linked not only novels and documentaries about Shakespeare but also recent film versions of Hamlet (such as Michael Almereyda’s 2000 film of the play).
Workshop Session One (Why theatre? Renaissance History in Modern French Drama)
Neil Kenny, Department of French, University of Cambridge
Why theatre?Early Modern History on the Modern French Stage
This paper set the scene for the three more detailed ones that followed in the session. It asked why, in nineteenth- and twentieth-century France, the representation of history and, in particular, of early modern history, often took the form of drama? Was drama considered to have any special relationship to history?
Making Sense of Les Cenci: Antonin Artaud and the Cruel Re-presentation of (Early Modern) History
Benjamin Andréo, AberystwythUniversity
This paper focused on Antonin Artaud’s Les Cenci. Why did Artaud choose theatre? And why did he choose Les Cenci? In the light of these questions, this paper explored and assessed the tragedy as a potential ‘re-presentation’ of history, read mainly as a way of ‘making history present’.
Wes Williams, St Edmund Hall, Oxford
Rabelais and/on the Stage
This paper discussed Rabelais’ writing by way of a brief contextual conspectus of textuality, orality, performance, carnival, and the place of the University in the theatre of ‘the Renaissance.’ It proceeded to discuss a number of key productions that highlighted attitudes towards medieval culture, heritage drama and modern media.
David Bradby, Royal Holloway, University of London
Staging Historicities of France: Planchon, Chéreau, Lavaudant
This paper reflected upon the work of the Théâtre de la Cité / TNP in Villeurbanne (Lyon) and a tradition of reconstructing history through dramatic re-enactment. Various productions were explored in the course of an investigation into the phenomenon of historical authenticity, into national character, into performances which attempt to represent history from the position of the Renaissance, and into social freighted cultural practices.
In questions, Michael Dobson remarked upon the French version of the play, The Shoemakers’ Holiday, discussed by David Bradby in his paper and inquired about the role of Brecht. David Bradby replied that Brecht was not well served in the French theatrical tradition but that, at the same time, performances could still be convincing despite the use of alienation techniques. Martin White mentioned Brecht in relation to Charles Laughton’s performances, which relied upon physicality and corporeal detail. David Bradby mentioned the living history tradition as explored by Eleanor Lowe in her paper and the predilection with some performers for living in costume. In subsequent reflections upon reconstructions of the Renaissance in France, John O’Brien referred the audience to the numerous stage and film versions of the life of Joan of Arc. Mark Thornton Burnett asked if the idea of the Renaissance was different in French and English contexts. Wes Williams suggested that, for England, the Renaissance was equivalent to a notion of ‘Merrie England’ while, in France, the Renaissance was invariably equated with Rabelais, an equation that has been reinforced via the popularization of the work of Mikhail Bakhtin. James Sharpe speculated if a greater sophistication could be attached to Franco-German reimaginings of the Renaissance; David Bradby suggested in response that there was a theoretical underpinning to the continental version of the Renaissance but that this did not mean that only ‘good’ productions predominated. James Sharpe drew attention to the Annales school of thought in France as a determinant in the popular imaginary; John O’Brien agreed, noting that England did not possess such an obvious institutional attachment. Michael Dobson referred audience members to the tradition of celebrating Culloden, while Roberta Pearson remarked that only certain representations become visible because the US market identifies exportable capital.