 Public theater performances can connect to citizen activism. |
Susan Haedicke, associate professor in the School of Theater, Performance and Cultural Policy Studies at the University of Warwick (Coventry, UK), will speak on European street theater during an upcoming lecture at Drake University.
The lecture, titled “Aesthetics and Politics of European Street Arts,” is scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 6, in Bulldog Theater, Olmsted Center, 2875 University Ave. The event is free and open to the public.
Street theater, an outdoor theatrical performance in a large public
space, aims to bring performances to people who may not have the means
to pay for a formal theater experience. Professor Haedicke offers a
language to express the ties between the aesthetics of public space in
contemporary street art and citizen activism. She investigates the
intersections in street performance, audience and site that engage the
spectator emotionally, intellectually and physically. Beginning with
examples of historic artistic socio-political activism in the 1960s,
Haedicke questions how specific street art performances act as political
practice in encouraging democratic and creative activities.
 Street art can encourage democratic and creative activities. |
Haedicke is also scheduled to speak to the Iowa Council for
International Understanding on April 5 at Noon at the Des Moines Central
Public Library, 1000 Grand Ave. There she will present “Performing
Otherness in European Street Theatre: Alternative Expressions of
Politics.” In addition, she will visit Professor Deena Conley’s theater
class to talk with students about the practice of European street art
and meet informally with Drake faculty members on April 7.
Haedicke has co-edited two books, “Political Performances: Theory
and Practice” (2009) and “Performing Democracy: International
Perspectives on Urban Community-Based Performance” (2001), as well as
numerous other published materials on the subject. She is currently
working on her newest book, “Contemporary European Street Arts:
Aesthetics and Politics.”
The lecture and trip are sponsored by the Drake University Center
for the Humanities and The Principal Financial Center for Global
Citizenship.
For more information, please contact Joseph Schneider: joseph.schneider@drake.edu or 515-271-2158.
“Aesthetics and Politics of European Street Arts”
Susan Haedicke, associate professor at the University of Warwick,
will speak on European street arts and political theater and the roots
of this form of expression.
When: 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 6.
Where: Bulldog Theater, Olmsted Center, 2875 University Ave.
Cost: Free and open to the public.