‘Exiturus: In Between Times and Spaces on the Early Modern Stage’

London Renaissance Seminar, Saturday 29th June 2013, 13.00-16.00

The Keynes Library, School of Arts, Birkbeck, University of London, 46 Gordon Square, London, WC1H 0PD

In 'A Dictionary of Stage Directions in English Drama, 1580-1642', Alan Dessen and Leslie Thomson define 'exiturus' as 'offers to go', or 'going'. A rare stage direction, 'exiturus' applies to characters who are in the process of leaving, somewhere between on and off stage, on the edges of the tiring house or stage door. For this seminar, we have brought together scholars interested in liminal times and spaces on the early modern stage. Papers will discuss the nature of on- and off-stage fictional worlds and characters who inhabit the ambiguous times and places between those worlds, the representation of waiting and delay on the stage, and the performance of transitional and transformative identities (in temporal as well as spatial terms) in early modern drama.

13.00-13.30: Coffee

13.30-14.30: Panel 1

‘Ere I Go’: Time, Space, and the Act of Leaving in King Lear

Matthew Wagner, University of Surrey

‘Tis very like my wife’s voice’: Echo, Time and Identity on the Early Modern Stage

Sarah Lewis, King’s College London

14.30-15.00: Tea

15.00-16.00: Panel 2
‘Shall I draw the curtain?’: Playing with Boundaries in the Discovery Space

Sarah Dustagheer, King’s College London

Prosper on the top (invisible): Folio stage directions
Emma Smith, Hertford College, Oxford

The London Renaissance Seminar meets at Birkbeck College to debate issues in the study of the literature and culture of the Renaissance. All interested are welcome to attend.

Organisers: Sarah Dustagheer (sarah.dustagheer@kcl.ac.uk) and Sarah Lewis (sarah.lewis@kcl.ac.uk) Mailing list: t.f.healy@sussex.ac.uk LRS contact: s.wiseman@bbk.ac.uk