Public Research Seminar: Claire Cochrane
Royal Birmingham Conservatoire - Workshop 2
200 Jennens Road, B4 7XR
Free - booking required
If you wish to join us online, please register at https://www.bcu.ac.uk/conservatoire/events-calendar and you shall be sent Zoom codes by email shortly before the seminar.
Wheelchair users are entitled to a complimentary companion seat.
You can book a free companion ticket by selecting the seat next to yours on the seating plan.
Or, for unreserved seating plans, add a second ticket to your basket.
If you wish to discuss your accessibility needs with a member of our team, please call 0121 331 5909.
Assistance dogs are welcome at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire venues. If you wish to bring an assistance dog, please let the Events Office know by calling 0121 331 5909.
Representing the Past with Empathy: The Case of Laurence Olivier
Claire Cochrane - University of Worcester
One of the hardest challenges to the theatre historian trying to represent the lived experience of the past, is the difficulty of capturing performance affect. How, from the standpoint of very different generational aesthetic criteria and attitudes can we hope to capture the sheer visceral audience response which assisted in the creation of dominant historical figures?
Focusing on Laurence Olivier once dubbed ‘the greatest actor in the world’, this talk will argue the need for ‘historiographic empathy’ in evaluating the critical records of the past.
Claire Cochrane is Professor Emeritus of Theatre Studies at the University of Worcester. She is the author of Twentieth Century British Theatre Industry, Art and Empire published by CUP in 2011, as well as two books on Birmingham Rep. Her work as an editor includes Theatre History and Historiography, Ethics, Evidence and Truth (Palgrave 2016), The Methuen Drama Handbook of Theatre History and Historiography (Methuen Drama 2020) and most recently the two volume Routledge Companion to Twentieth Century British Theatre and Performance.
Running time approx. one hour and 30 minutes
Seminars are in RBC Workshop 2 and can also be accessed online via Zoom. A link to view the seminar via Zoom will be emailed ahead of the session.
Real and virtual doors will open around 3.25pm, the seminar begins at 3.30pm and discussion will conclude around 4.55pm.