The Monstrous and the Theater – Stagings of Monstrous Bodies and Orders

The Monstrous and the Theater – Stagings of Monstrous Bodies and Orders

International conference with contributions by academics and artists

Whether the grotesque-monstrous dances of Valeska Gert, who called herself a witch, the monstrous collages and self-dramatizations of Claude Cahun that transgressed gender norms, the animal-human montages of Frida Kahlo, or the thousand bloody deaths of the famous Paula Maxa at the Théâtre du Grand Guignol in Paris: the historical avant-gardes are permeated by productions of monstrous bodies and orders. Today, on the other hand, the productions of Eisa Jocson, Rébecca Chaillon, Susanne Kennedy and Florentina Holzinger, which can certainly be described as monstrous, are touring Europe and fascinating audiences - partly by means of strategies similar to those used by their colleagues from the historical avant-gardes, partly by means of completely new ones. In the context of the conference Das Monströse und das Theater - Inszenierungen monströser Körper und Ordnungen (The Monstrous and the Theater - Stagings of Monstrous Bodies and Orders), artists and scholars are invited to explore the phenomenon of the monstrous in history and/or the present. There will be contributions in German and English on monstrous orders as well as on the staging of monstrous bodies.

Time and place:

11.-13.04.2024 Georg-Büchner-Saal in der Alten Universitätsbibliothek, Bismarckstraße 37, 35390 Gießen

Program:

funded by the Hessian Theatre Academy