CEDAR CITY — What strange bedfellows Shakespeare doth make. Scholars and actors?
The first "Wooden O" Symposium at Southern Utah University will blend the words of playwright William Shakespeare, with modern academic perspective on the literary icon.
On Aug. 6-8, scholars from all over the world will gather in Cedar City to present their insight and new ideas on, mostly, the works of Shakespeare, while the Tony Award-winning Utah Shakespearean Festival continues across campus. The symposium is free and open to the public.
Coordinators Matt Nickerson, Rob Behunin and Michael Bahr form an eclectic mix of scholars/scientists/artists/teachers.
The "Wooden O" refers to the design of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. The building, which was recently replicated near London, has a roughly circular shape with an open performance and viewing area in the middle. The Utah Shakespearean Festival's Adams Memorial Theatre is itself a wooden "O" and is noted as being one of the closest replicas of the original Globe Theatre.
"The 'Wooden O' Symposium is a cross-disciplinary conference that will explore medieval and Renaissance studies through the text and performance of Shakespeare's plays," Nickerson says. "Shakespeare works reflect important questions and changes during a pivotal time in Western history. His plays are replete with the language, thoughts and arts of the Renaissance and Western culture, and represent an inexhaustible source for creative ideas and research."
Many symposium presentations will scrutinize "The Tempest," which is playing in the festival.
Thirty-two scholars, professors and students will present papers at this year's symposium. Four will present papers on the linguistic tendencies in Shakespeare's plays. Another three, from higher-education institutions across the country, will come together to discuss the recently discovered commentary by author C.S. Lewis on "Othello."
SUU has encouraged undergraduates to submit original papers as well. The local chapters of the English honor society, Sigma Tau Delta, and the history honor society Phi Alpha Theta, are the hosts of the two undergraduate panels on "Renaissance Kings and Court" and "Literary and Cultural Trends in the Renaissance." Panels will begin at 1 p.m. in SUU's Sharwan Smith Center.
A journal containing selected presentations from the three-day conference will be available for purchase in forthcoming weeks. For more information, call Nickerson at 435-586-1955, Behunin at 435-586-7957 or Bahr at 435-865-8333.