Terrific recording from the Charlottesville Podcasting Network:
Dr. Ralph Alan Cohen spoke to a meeting of the Jefferson Literary and Debating Society on February 13, 2009. His presentation, “The Theater of the Imagination,” traced the history of theater from Shakespeare’s time to our own, including the connection and competition between theater and film. According to Dr. Cohen, “The audience for live drama is dropping precipitously,” due at least in part to the influence of film and the increasing emphasis on creating stage illusions rather than communal imaginative experiences. Dr. Cohen and his colleague Sarah Enloe illustrated his points with selections from Much Ado About Nothing and The Merchant of Venice.
via Charlottesville Podcasting Network » Ralph Alan Cohen on the Theater of the Imagination.
Don’t miss the “Hamlet” anecdote Dr. Cohen tells during the question and answer session.
Listen to “The Theater of the Imagination”
Filed under: charlottesville, lectures, theater, virginia Tagged: | American Shakespeare Center, Blackfriar, Blackfriars Playhouse, Jefferson Literary and Debating Society, Ralph Alan Cohen
[...] 2009 by Elizabeth Interesting comment over at Charlottesville Podcasting Network regarding the theater lecture I linked to earlier. The commenter is Charles J. Shields, the author of Mockingbird: A Portrait of [...]