ART SEMINAR GROUP LIVE LECTURE (ALSO AVAILABLE ONLINE THROUGH ZOOM)

The Show: Theatre & Visuality Onstage & in Life

Otis Ramsey-Zöe, Literary Manager at Arena Stage and Lecturer in Dramaturgy at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale

The word theatre derives from the Greek meaning ‘looking place.’ “The Show: Theatre & Visuality Onstage & in Life” interrogates occurrences in which looking at other human beings constitutes a complete theatrical event. Many, but not all, examples will feature race as central to the spectacular event. This includes George and Willie Muse, black albino brothers who were displayed in sideshow attractions under the name The Ambassadors from Mars; Ota Benga, a Mbuti man exhibited in the St Louis World Fair and Bronx Zoo; and Afong Moy, who was exhibited as “The Chinese Lady” in the early 19th century. This lecture uses theatre, performance, and visual culture studies to examine looking as a dramatic event and considers the strategic, social, political, and entertainment implications of seeing onstage and in everyday life.

$15 door fee for guests and subscribers (no fee for members)