AUTUMN 2009

NEWSLETTER OF THE ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

“NOTED has lost its figure heads”

Editorial 3-8 Features 9-14 Theatre 15-34 Film 35-42 Etymology 43-45 Creative Writing 46-47 Contents

Editorial 3 Film 35 Department News 4 The English Department Film Club 35 Note from the Director 7 News from the Film Club 36 Filmic Events and Festivals 37 Film Quiz 38 Film Quiz Solutions 39 Cinecurus: Interview 41 Features 9 Doctoral Programme 9 Emma Depledge reports on the module entitled ‘History: Medieval and Early Etymology 43 Modern English Literature and the Question of Periodization’ 10 Venice Through the Looking Glass 11

Creative Writing 46 Theatre 15 To My Milky Way Dream 46 Theatre Schedule 15 Three and a Half Hamlets 16 Impressum 48 Study Trip to London 20 Review of The Winter’s Tale 25 Review of Romeo and Juliet 28 The Comedy That Could Have Been Transformed into a Tragedy... 32 Review of An Ideal Party 34 Editorial

Welcome to the 2009-10 academic and if you have any lexicographic year, and the newest edition of NOTED. interests, we would also relish articles I hope your summers were filled with about words, idioms, grammar, and the satisfying pursuits, academic and English language at large. otherwise. This issue marks the turnover Without further ado, please enjoy of the newsletter, as its figureheads this very thespian issue of NOTED. Emma Depledge, Ioana Balgradean, Highlights include an overview of Emma and Michael Röösli hang up their Depledge and Professor Erne’s (editorial) pens, and bequeath the Shakespeare study trip to London and publication unto Arnaud Barras, an MA Stratford-upon-Avon, along with student student in the English Department, and reviews of the Shakespeare plays, me. We look forward to constructing Kareen Klein’s description of a selection and editing the next few issues, and of Hamlets, and an interview with a gladly welcome your contributions, member of Cinecursus. Read on! whether they be poetry, creative writing, book, film or theatre reviews; Susanna Gebhardt

3 Department News Deborah Madsen will still be on leave to congratulate Julianna on the for the autumn semester 2009. completion of her PhD thesis, which explored the Genevan career of the Michael Röösli has left the English 18th-century pastellist, Jean-Etienne Department. Michael was an invaluable Liotard. Julianna will now be writing a member of the Department, contributing PhD on an aspect of the relationship to its many activities and generally between the visual arts and early running the show from behind the modern literature. scenes. His roles included NOTED editor, webmaster and director of the Sarah Brazil has joined the English Film Club, not to mention his Department as an assistant in Medieval inspirational role as an instructor in English Language and Literature. Sarah contemporary literature. His fellow holds a BA in English and Classics and NOTED editors wish him a fond an MA in Medieval English Literature farewell. from University College Dublin.

Sarah Van der Laan has left the English Johanna Harris has joined t he Department to take up the position of Department as a maître assistante on a Assistant Professor in Comparative research project directed by Professor Literature at Indiana University, Lukas Erne, Shakespeare and the Book Bloomington. Trade. Johanna gained her BA (Hons) in English Literature and Ancient History Erika Scheidegger has left the English from the University of Sydney, and her Department. NOTED would like to wish MSt and DPhil in English Literature from Erika all the very best for the future. the University of Oxford. Her doctorate examined the letters of Lady Brilliana Julianna Bark h a s j o i n e d t h e Harley and the epistolary genre in Department as an assistant in early early modern England. modern literature. Julianna holds a licence ès lettres from the University of Former Writing Lab monitor Kimberly Geneva and an MA and PhD in Art Gaydon has taken up a position as History from the Institute of Fine Arts at assistant in American literature. New York University. NOTED would like Kimberly holds a BA in Modern

4 Literature from the University of Commission mixte: The Commission California at Santa Cruz, as well as a mixte is a body of students, assistants BA in French and English and an MA in and professors, who meet once a English from the University of Geneva. semester or, if necessary, more often to She wrote her MA thesis on exchange views on Department issues enfreakment in the American fairytale, and ways of addressing them. The The Wizard of Oz, and some of its discussions cover topics such as: the modern reinterpretations. Her PhD Plan d’études; examinations; teaching; thesis will focus on allegories of race, other practical matters. The members of gender, and sexuality and the debates the Commission are: Lukas Erne that surround them in contemporary (president), on behalf of the corps fantasy literature and film. professoral, Valerie Fehlbaum and Erzsi Kukorelly (secretary), on behalf of the NOTED would like to welcome the corps intermédiaire, and Lilia Aghzafi Department’s two new Writing Lab and Arnaud Barras on behalf of the monitors, PhD student, Susanna student body. If you are interested in Gebhardt, and MA student, Arnaud joining the Commission mixte, please Barras. attend the Annual General Meeting of the English Department early in the Student Activities spring term. NOTED has lost its figureheads. Emma Depledge, Michael Röösli and Ioana CUSO Doctoral programme in Balgradean are stepping down as English Language and Literature editors of the English Department A doctoral workshop on Theory, entitled newsletter. As of this issue, Susanna “Genealogies of Modern Literary Gebhardt and Arnaud Barras are taking Theory” took place at the Nietzsche over as editors. Haus, Sils-Maria (Engadine) from 31 August - 3 September, 2009. The English Department's theatre group, Barbe-à-Papa, performed their latest A special module, entitled ‘Literature piece, An Ideal Party, on April 4 and 5, and the Environment’ will be hosted by 2009. the University of Geneva from 16-18 October, 2009. The chief organiser is Anna Iatsenko and BA student Lilia Dr Martin Leer. Aghzafi have taken over the running of the Film Club.

5 Scholarships for Students Other news Bourses de mobilité de la Fondation Plan d’études change Ernest Boninchi The Conseil de Faculté has approved a This support programme addresses new 90-credit MA, i.e. five modules students of Swiss nationality who cannot instead of six, with a mémoire worth 30 finance their research project on their credits instead of 48: this will avoid an own, and who have either successfully overlap for students wishing to take the finished at least two years' study or are MAS (teacher-training MA), since they doctoral students at the University of will be able to complete their MA Geneva. Students who receive this within one and a half years. mobility grant need to stay enrolled at the University of Geneva and return to The Semaine portes ouvertes pour les finish their studies. Students from all collégiens will take place from Faculties are eligible. See the November 26 to December 8, 2009. Department website for further details. All 2nd-, 3rd-, and 4th-year students from all the Collèges de Genève Bourse Thomas Harvey (approximately 7,000 students) will be The Thomas Har vey scholarship required to attend this information week provides up to Sfr. 2,000 every year for at various Faculties. There will be 1,600 a student to travel to an English- students visiting the Faculté des lettres in speaking country for purposes of study conjunction with the Faculté de and research. Applicants must be of médecine, i.e. students will spend either Swiss nationality and have completed mornings or afternoons in the Medical at least two semesters of study at the Faculty, alternating with our Faculty. University of Geneva. Doctoral students are also Studying abroad eligible. Applications (in the form of a Language Assistant Programme (LAP) in letter describing the project and the United Kingdom estimating anticipated expenses) should Students of French mother-tongue from be submitted to the director of the the French-speaking part of English Department by December 30, Switzerland, aged between 21 and 30, 2009. who are already graduate students or have studied at the University of Geneva for at least four semesters (two academic years) by the time they go abroad, can benefit from a sponsored

6 programme to teach French in the These should normally be BA students United Kingdom. Requirements are a intending to spend all or part of their good general education, a certain third year of study abroad. A number amount of proficiency in French and of ERASMUS places may be made English and the ability to work with available to English Department young people. More detailed students through ETI exchanges. The information and electronic versions of number of places and the universities the application forms are available via where these places are available are the Department website, or directly made known in the spring of each year. f r o m M s R e n a t a L e i m e r : ERASMUS places in the UK will be [email protected] . assigned competitively, based on There are also 20 assistant posts students' average grade in English available for German mother-tongue students. The conditions and the For more information, please consult deadline are the same as indicated the webpage of the ERASMUS above. Interested candidates should programme of International Relations consult the Department website, or http://www.unige.ch/intl/erasmus/, contact Eric Haerbeli, acting especially the section for students of the coordinator of the LAP programme in University of Geneva considering a stay the English Department. abroad: http://www.unige.ch/intl/ erasmus/OUTpourquoiframe.html. The ERASMUS Programme For a more personal account of All students interested in ERASMUS ERASMUS stays, please consult the four study in the UK or Ireland in 20010-11 student reports which are currently should send an e-mail to Professor Eric available via the Department website. Haeberli: [email protected] by the end of the autumn semester 2009.

Note from the Director As Director of the English Department, you to our department. The English it is my pleasure, at the beginning of Department has this academic year, to welcome all new • over 260 students, more than 200 students, and to welcome back at the BA, 40 at the MA, and everyone else. I will seize the almost 20 at the PhD level, which opportunity of this ‘Note’ to introduce makes us the third largest discipline

7 in the Faculty after History and which we also have easy access), French, a well-oiled interlibrary loan • almost thirty teachers, five system, and terrific digital professors, two maîtres resources, with vast corpuses of d’enseignement et de recherche, primary texts, lots of reference four chargés d’enseignement, two works, countless electronic chargées d’enseignement journals, and so on, suppléantes, two maître assistantes, • two very helpful secretaries, whom two maître assistantes you will find on the second floor of suppléantes, ten assistants, and the Comédie building, Boulevard two monitors, des Philosophes 12, • seminars and lecture courses on a • the best website of the Faculty – vast range of subjects, from Old you are urged to visit it often: English to contemporary, from www.unige.ch/lettres/angle, linguistics to literature, from English • an active Commission mixte and Irish to Australian and (consisting of students and Caribbean literature, from teachers) which meets twice or canonical works so powerful that three times per year to discuss they will stay with you for the rest important matters relating to the of your lives, to non-canonical department – members are elected works which will open up new at the Annual General Meeting worlds for you, early in the spring semester, • an active research community – in • the most dynamic student body in the present decade, the teachers in the Faculty, as witnessed by our the English Department have newsletter (NOTED), theatre group published more than twenty books (Barbe à Papa), film club, and and well over two hundred articles, student association (ADEA). the fruits of research which enhance the reputation of our This is your department. I hope you will department abroad, and add to grow in it, contribute towards it, and the quality of our teaching, thrive in it. • a library, headed by an expert librarian and her devoted staff, Lukas Erne with almost 30,000 volumes (which does not include the vast holdings of the Bibliothèque de Genève to

8 Features

Doctoral programme in English Language and Literature

The doctoral programme in English The most visible form of this Language and Literature, sponsored by collaboration will be an annual series the Conférence Universitaire de la of seminars or workshops designed to Suisse Occidentale (CUSO), officially appeal to a wide range of intellectual began its activities in teaching, interests, while also demonstrating how research, and scholarship in 2009. This research is conducted at the highest programme brings together the talents level. The faculty of the programme will and resources of faculty and doctoral also offer practical advice to doctoral students from the CUSO universities of students on the organisation, Fribourg, Geneva, Lausanne, and composition, and eventual publication Neuchâtel, as well as the associated of their theses. The aim of the universities of Basel and Bern. The programme is to prepare doctoral purpose of the programme is to provide students for professional life, whether in the best possible environment for academia or elsewhere, through doctoral study by creating an active, research. collaborative, and lasting research community in English studies. David Spurr

9 Emma Depledge reports on the module disciplines on an exciting journey of entitled ‘History: Medieval and Early discovery. Modern English Literature and the The second stage of the workshop Question of Periodization’. involved students introducing their thesis The doctoral workshop on ‘History: topic and argument to the other Medieval and Early Modern English participants, without the aid of notes or Literature and the Question of prompts. Those still in the process of Periodization’, which took place at the defining their thesis topic, who thought University of Basel from 17-18 April they would have very little to say, 2009, provided a wonderful received a noticeable confidence boost opportunity to mix with fellow graduate as they realized how much material students, whilst enjoying stimulating and they did have and how interested their thought-provoking discussions. audience was in what they had to say. The two-day workshop began with The more advanced students were informal introductions, with each treated to a mini-viva, and a chance to participant identifying the period in see their topic through the eyes of which their research lies: ‘early others, receiving new ideas and new modern’, ‘Jacobean’, ‘Elizabethan’, ways of looking at issues which they ‘Medieval’, ‘Renaissance’, had started to take for granted. I know ‘Restoration’, and so on. Having that I am not the only one who left the confidently catalogued our research, room feeling revitalized and extremely we were then asked to question the grateful for suggestions which would labels we had used, along with all that help me to write a better thesis. we thought we knew about As advertised, the workshop periodization. Where did these labels enabled us to consider both ‘Medieval’ come from? Who coined them, and and ‘early modern’ texts in the context why? When do these periods start and of periodization, and I was delighted to end? Why use labels which describe a get the chance to both study a text monarch’s reign? The room was which was new to me, Mandeville’s brimming with thoughts and ideas as Travels, and approach familiar and the workshop leaders, Professor much loved texts, such as Gordon McMullan (King's College Shakespeare’s King Lears and the London) and Dr David Matthews Anonymous play, King Leir, from a new (Manchester), guided students of two, angle. The sense of isolation which now apparently not-so-distinct, comes with writing a PhD seemed a million miles away as we were unified

10 by our passion for these wonderful excellent choice of workshop leaders, texts, with Mandeville experts infecting who proved to be both outstanding new-comers with their enthusiasm, and scholars and inspirational instructors, the King Lear club helping to guide and the beautiful setting and warm virgins through the confusing world of hospitality of the University of Basel. All Quarto and Folio variants. in all, I found this to be a very The event was rounded off by rewarding experience, which helped to fascinating key-note lectures from David enrich my doctoral work while allowing Matthews and Gordon McMullan, me to network and bond with fellow prompting yet more enthusiastic doctoral students over a glass of wine discussion of the issues raised during or two. the workshop. That the event was so pleasurable is surely down to the Emma Depledge Venice Through the Looking Glass By Susan Heller Tethered to mainland Italy by the five- kilometer-long Liberty Bridge on one side and abutting the Grand Canal on the other, Venice’s cul-de-sac Santa Lucia train station gives new meaning to the phrase “at the end of the line.” And for the seven of us who spent Spring Semester 2009 attending Professor Spurr’s course, “L’idée de Venise dans la Littérature Moderne,” and signed up for the optional study trip he proposed to the near-mythical city itself, the end of the line was a very welcome “prochain arrêt” indeed. Narrow walls hug each street so snugly that one is compelled to look up at pastel-colored sheets that hang on lines that droop from one window to another; at bright pink and purple geraniums in

11 windowsills; at halfway-peeled-off Caprera. After checking in and posters and advertisements that have dropping off our luggage, we been pasted on walls. Street signs are zigzagged our way by vaporetto and erratically posted, and a narrow alley by foot to a quiet café that Professor may deposit you in St. Mark’s Square Spurr recommended that was located or, just as likely, a watery dead-end around the bend from the Rialto Bridge. street. As we disembarked from the As daylight waned, we sipped Spritz train, stumbled down the station’s front Aperol—a local Venetian aperitif made steps, and saw the panorama of the with Prosecco, Aperol Orange liquer, Grand Canal unfold before us, the and soda water—while watching boat transformation from the landscape of traffic shuttle by along the Grand Italy to the waterscape of Venice was Canal. Not a bad first day in Venice. so drastic that it felt like stepping Not a bad first day at all. through the wardrobe into Narnia, or On day two, Ascension Day, we falling into Alice’s Wonderland. visited the Ducal Palace, Basilica San In an effort to describe Venice, it Marco, and Harry’s Bar, an seems that similes and metaphors are understated, elegant bar credited with the closest one can get to capturing the inventing the Bellini (a cocktail made essence of a city that is so different with Prosecco and peach purée) and from any other place that it almost feels once frequented by the likes of Ernest beyond language. And perhaps the Hemingway, Charlie Chaplin, Truman otherworldly nature that permeates Venice is the very thing that has drawn writers, such as the ones we read—from Casanova, Proust, and Mann to Byron, Ruskin, and James—to try, time and time again, to “eff the ineffable” Bride of the Sea. After obtaining our multi-day Vaporetto and Museum passes outside of the train station, we schlepped our suitcases along the cobbled streets that blanket Venice’s land portions, and, after a few minutes, turned down an Capote, and Peggy Guggenheim; and alley the width of a hallway and now, thanks to Professor Spurr’s kind located our charming base: Hotel offer to treat us to a round of Bellinis,

12 by us. As we sipped our Bellinis and gondoliers and Venetian masks, of admired the bar’s simple decor, palaces and prisons, without feeling the Professor Spurr pointed out a plaque usual sense of guilt that comes with on the wall that stating, in Italian, that walking around an unfamiliar city with the table next to us was reserved for camera and map in hand. locals. But the plaque hardly needed to On Friday, day three of our five- be there, as the boisterous nature of the day sojourn, we spent the morning men sitting at the coveted table was touring the Gallerie dell’Accademia, evidence enough that they were and then went hunting for the one-time Venetians through and through. residence of poet Ezra Pound. The afternoon was reserved for independent sightseeing, and while I spent most of my afternoon drinking coffee and eating gelato near a large public park on the edge of town, others had more adventurous afternoons, such as the two students who were whisked around the canals of Venice by a Venetian man with a motorboat, a head full of interesting but far-fetched stories, and a patent disregard for signs Somehow, even amidst the city’s marked, “This Canal is Reserved kitschy tourism industry (replica black- Exclusively for Gondolas.” and-white gondolier shirts; small On Saturday, we visited the animals fashioned out of Venetian Ca’Pesaro, Venice’s modern-art glass; lots and lots of masks) and museum; Il Redentore and San Gorgio numerous tourists who filter into its Maggiore churches; a beach on the every nook, cranny, and canal, Venice island of Lido; and the Hotel des Bains, seems to have maintained its sense of the once-luxurious hotel featured in self. It is almost as if Venetians have Thomas Mann’s novel Death in Venice. accepted, even embraced, the fact that It’s funny how time and history can play tourists are an essential part of their city tricks on one’s perception of things, as without feeling that they detract from we learned when visiting the Hotel des what it means to be Venetian. And so I, Bains in search of famed green-and- too, took picture after picture of quiet white-striped beach huts that Mann so canals and hanging flowers, of frequently mentioned in Death in

13 thereby maintaining peace and prompting the Pope to bestow many privileges upon the city of Venice. The Doge was even believed to have thrown a gold ring into the sea in an effort to demonstrate both Venice’s “marriage” to the sea and its dominion in the gulf. While we did not witness the annual ring-throwing ceremony, we did see bits of the water procession and one of the many gondola regattas that took place throughout the day. With our shoes full of sand and our cameras full of pictures, we boarded our train back to Geneva. Two weeks later, I was still finding sand in my shoes and between my toes, each grain a reminder of a city whose Venice. The green-and-white huts at the spirit seems to stick with you long after Hotel des Bains had long since been you leave its boundaries. replaced by more modern-looking ones, but when we visited a public beach on the other end of the island, we found our green-and-white-striped huts exactly how we had pictured them, albeit in a setting 30 kilometers away from the one we had imagined. Sunday marked both our last day in Venice as well as “La Festa della Sensa,” a festival celebrating Venice’s symbolic relationship with the sea. The festival’s roots sprout from an episode that occurred on Ascension Day in 1177 when Doge Ziani served as mediator between Pope Alexander II and Empereor Frederick Barbarossa,

14 Theatre

Theatre Schedule Compiled by Michael Roosli 08.09.2009 The Wizard of Oz by Elizabeth Fuller GEDS 18.09.2009 Eternity in an Hour (original work) Howard Productions 22.09.2009 Return of the Prodigal by St. John Hankin GEDS 06.10.2009 Quartet by Ronald Harwood GEDS 20.10.2009 GEDS Newcomer Evening: GEDS Stiletto by Peter Hartley Sophie by Marjorie Dickenson 03.11.2009 Ivona, Princess of Burgundia by Witold Gombrowicz GEDS 10.11.-14.11.2009 It Runs in the Family by Ray Cooney GEDS 24.11.2009 Rabbit Hole by David Lindsay-Abaire GEDS 08.12.2009 Snake in the Grass by Alan Ayckbourn GEDS 05.01.2010 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff GEDS 19.01.2010 No Exit by Jean-Paul Sartre GEDS 02.02.2010 The Lieutenant of Inishmore by Martin McDonagh GEDS

Playreadings are printed in regular typeface, full productions are printed in bold. Please check the respective websites for information about venues, dates, and times: The Geneva English Drama Society (GEDS): www.geds.ch Howard Productions: www.howardprod.ch The Geneva Amateur Operatic Society (GAOS): www.gaos.ch

15 Three and a half Hamlets By Kareen Klein Three: that's the number of times I've already reviewed Hamlet for Noted. Here come three and a half more but, due to a lack of space, only a glimpse at each will be possible. The first Hamlet was a production at the Staatstheater Mainz (November 2008, directed by Barbara-David Brüesch). The set was a NATO or UN A plastic ghost Hamlet’s techno rave conference room, with a semicircle of desks, blue carpet, microphones, If anyone was spying on someone laptops, telephones and numerous else, they appeared in the interpreter hidden and not-so-hidden cameras. cabinets, half a floor up, behind Letters were e-mails, the crowing of the window panes. The visible cameras cock the ringing of a telephone. were operated by the actors, the videos being projected onto TV monitors facing the audience. Reynaldo and Polonius, for example, communicated via video-conference. Claudius was a politician, fond of smiling and waving; he controlled his applause via remote control. Part of the audience sat onstage, with actors (e. g. the mad Ophelia) running through the rows of seats from time to time. There was not one ghost, but several, whose eerie appearances were due to the plastic and canvas covers that constituted their

costumes. Hamlet was very young, thin The fencing match and wore Ophelia's costume in his madness – no hat upon his head, but instead dirty stockings (Ophelia's

16 tights). This accentuated his already go. To explain the half Hamlet: at the feminine appearance. Hamlet’s “neues theater” Halle, we arrived late headdress was only topped by those of and since the spectators entered the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, who auditorium over the stage we had to sported constructions made of coat wait for the interval. That's half a hangers and foxtails on their heads. Hamlet. The second time (when we saw Horatio was omnipresent, to the the entire production, January 2009, point of nudging Hamlet into his most directed by Christoph Werner) it was, famous soliloquy – Horatio was the first above all, still refreshingly brief, just to pronounce "To be or not to be" in under two hours, including the this production. Throughout, he seemed intermission. One of the main to portray something like Hamlet's alter attractions of this production was the set ego. In a discussion after the (mainly huge wall hangings) designed production, the actor playing Hamlet by famous local artist Moritz Götze, as mused: "I wondered whether it was were the costumes. My favourite piece really necessary that Horatio did a of costume was Hamlet's hoodie, on series of gymnastics, push-ups and yoga which sprawled "Universität Halle positions throughout my monologues – Wittenberg" in big letters, à la apparently it was." Americaine. The universities of Halle and Wittenberg are indeed joined Ophelia drowned herself in a nowadays. A nice clin d'oeil for the water dispenser (one of those that are audience in Halle. In contrast to the frequently found in large offices), a production in Mainz, Horatio was scene that was rather distressing, also entirely cut. Instead, the ghost kept because the ever-present Horatio appearing, and Hamlet's conversations assisted her in the process. with Horatio turned into rhetorical There were a lot of young people questions addressed to his dead father's in the audience. They seemed to spirit. When the plot really required it, appreciate the production, especially some other character took on a bit of the moment when Hamlet was jumping Horatio's text. up and down with a microphone in his hand, shouting over rampant techno beats. That was a glimpse at the first Hamlet. One down, two and a half to Hamlet wearing “Universität Halle Wittenberg” merchandise

17 The production started as follows: I like a stage that is littered with the ghost crossed the stage once, leftovers at the end of the play (and, slowly, then Hamlet (kneeling under his possibly, with bodies, in Hamlet). This father's statue) cried: "I can't, I can't do was certainly the case here. Petals from it". I thought, if we now have "To be or a rose that the Queen had smashed not to be" that would make a very against her former husband's condensed version – and so it monument, bits of equipment from the happened. (Incidentally, just that fencing (carried out with modern beginning would also have made a nice electronic equipment that went "beep" summary of the whole play.) for each hit), torn-up papers, and, of All three productions were in course, bodies. So much for the one- German. Halle's version presented a and-a-half Hamlets. radically modern text. Interestingly, Quickly moving on to the third, at Hamlet's advice to the players was the Schaubühne in Berlin, directed by turned on its head. He urged them to Thomas Ostermeier (March 2009. make grimaces and to gesticulate as Those who are familiar with this wildly as possible. director’s work would expect to see mud and blood and he made no exception for Hamlet. However, what took some getting used to for me, was regarded as a softer version of “the usual” by most critics. The whole stage was covered with earth. The play started with old Hamlet’s funeral. While one actor sprayed the whole scene with rain showers from a garden hose, and Claudius and Gertrude stood by under an umbrella, an extremely clumsy Polonius, Ophelia, Hamlet and young gravedigger tried to drag the Claudius, backdrop by Moritz Götze coffin into the grave, constantly slipping An interesting detail: the in the mud, falling into the grave, "remembrances" Ophelia returned to getting the coffin in upside down, until Hamlet were kept in a white plastic he finally succeeded. One of the first bag. things Hamlet did was to fall headlong into the freshly made mound of earth

18 on his father’s grave. Later, he got up The funeral/wedding banquet was close and personal with Ophelia on the set as a very cheap event, with beer same spot. cans and disposable plates, plastic chairs and a paper table cloth. The invited guests did not display particularly good table manners, incessantly gobbling food. In this production’s play-within-a-

play, Hamlet took on the role of the Player King. When he appeared half- naked, I realized that he had hitherto worn a bodysuit, making him look much more corpulent than he really was. During the play-within-a-play, both the (actually) fat Horatio and Hamlet wore only tiny underwear, they poured fake blood and water out of Tetrapacks, threw earth at each other – you get the picture. Hamlet also enveloped Horatio in a huge piece of cellophane. This cellophane was later used to depict Mud, blood, and a fat Hamlet. Ophelia’s drowning; it was very moving The cast was made up of only six and a bit scary as she seemed to actors; one actress doubled as Ophelia suffocate against it. and Gertrude and the ghost was doubled with Claudius. As in Mainz, cameras played an important role: more precisely, Hamlet’s camera, which he used constantly. His live filming was projected onto a half-transparent curtain of metal chains that hung in the middle of the stage. The shots had the effect of a rough kind of film noir, very artistic and impressive. The ghost, for Rain and mud instance, was usually shown on film.

19 two-and-three-quarter hours, it becomes difficult to focus on an ending that everyone sees coming. As you might have guessed, Hamlet continues to be very popular in Germany. Recently, a German journalist saw five Hamlets in five days, all over the country (two of those discussed here also featured in his “To be or not to be” review). His favourite production was one where the older generation was Again, the translation was rather portrayed by amateur actors from a free though more stylized than the nursing home, and the younger roles production in Halle. At times, Polonius were played by school kids. talked so fast that you really couldn't understand him. The production could certainly have used an interval: after

‘Call it a travel that thou takest for pleasure’: The ‘Shakespeare and Performance’ Study Trip to London and Stratford-upon-Avon, 14th-19th June 2009 By Susanna Gebhardt After digesting the performative aspects of Shakespeare’s As You Like It, Romeo and Juliet, and The Winter’s Tale in the classroom, we arrived in London eager for a week of bardic revelry. Our first stop was the rebuilt Globe theatre, located on the south bank of the River Thames. The old Globe was demolished in 1644, and its rebuilding was initiated by director Sam Wanamaker, completed in 1997. We were

20 groundlings for the Sunday evening lure of aimlessly staring at a groundling performance of Romeo and Juliet. The standing opposite the stage during a mediocrity of the production was lull in action. She regaled us with a few outweighed by the sheer novelty of the tales, such as the changes to the stage Globe experience: leaning onstage, the when a distinguished guest visits the actors mulling around before the theatre (they shift the action so that performance properly began, the stage-right, where such guests are often absence of the general trappings of a seated, becomes centre-stage, thus twenty-first-century theatre visit. accommodating and performing to the most important members of the audience), and one particularly harrowing occasion involving audience members, champagne, disgorging, and a mass mid-performance exodus. We rehearsed a scene from Julius Caesar, using the Renaissance practice of ‘cue-acting’ and explored space and movement through a scene from Romeo and Juliet. Subsequently, we attended a We returned to the Globe on lecture by a member of the costume Monday morning to discuss the department in which we were previous evening’s performance, before introduced to the sartorial particulars of listening to a lecture by a King’s early modern England, and how these College/Globe graduate student on the would have translated, and currently history of the early modern Globe translate, to the stage. The theatre, and the historical accuracy of complications of costume changes were the new Globe. As the Globe website demonstrated with the help of one of notes, it is as ‘faithful to the original as our lovely BA students, and my modern scholarship and traditional favourite fact of the lecture concerned craftsmanship’ allow. This was followed the cape, which was worn slung over by an acting workshop with a Globe the right shoulder to facilitate sword- actress, who explained the challenges drawing. Our lecturer had yet to find of acting in such a unique space – more than one painting depicting a man namely the difficulty of maintaining the with a cape over his left shoulder, audience’s attention amidst a myriad of which has interesting implications to a distractions. Indeed, I can attest to the culture in which ambidexterity is the

21 exception rather than the rule. While explained through the scene in Titus the rest of the group had had enough Andronicus when Marcus describes ‘understand’-ing, Susan Heller and I how a ‘crimson river of warm blood, / could not resist the siren-call of the pit, Like to a bubbling fountain stirr’d with and were groundlings for that evening’s wind, / Doth rise and fall’ between showing of As You Like It. Lavinia’s lips (TA 2.4.22-4). This effect was achieved by placing a piece of sheep’s intestine inside the actor’s mouth, which would be bitten on to release a torrent of blood. We had a brief interlude before reconvening at the Old Vic for The Winter’s Tale. Directed by Sam Mendes, it was part of a venture known as the Bridge Project, a three-year partnership amongst the Old Vic, Neal After barely ten hours away from Street Productions and Brooklyn the Globe, we returned for a discussion Academy of Music. The difference of the play and an interview with Jack between the Elizabethan Globe and the Laskey, the actor playing Orlando. Our Georgian Vic was initially striking, and time at the Globe concluded with a tour though certain scenes strove to include of the museum’s exhibition, including a the audience in the action – namely synopsis of the history and original Hermione’s resurrection – I was very location of the old Globe theatre. aware of my distance from the stage, Amidst the early modern instruments and my status as isolated spectator. and costumes was a section on After the morning discussion, we Elizabethan and Jacobean staging of travelled by bus to Stratford-upon-Avon special effects. Onstage hanging, which – which would have been a three-day did not occur in any of Shakespeare’s journey by horse in the most optimal plays, per se, but was present in the conditions, in Shakespeare’s day – work of other playwrights, was where we divided ourselves amongst performed on the Globe stage by three bed-and-breakfasts. We toured attaching a hook to the actor’s shirt- Nash’s House and (the ruins of) New collar, as well as a noose around the Place. Shakespeare purchased New neck, the hook preventing Place in 1597, where he later died in strangulation. The staging of blood was 1616; after which, the house passed

22 down to Shakespeare’s daughter, and discussion elucidated certain directorial then granddaughter, who died without choices that students had noticed: the an heir. Eventually, the house was bourgeois feel of the props and purchased by Reverent Francis Gastrell, costumes, the Russian undertones, the who later destroyed it, after growing importance of the material book, the weary of the constant influx of visitors reduced part of Autolycus (which was a paying homage to the Bard. Nash’s change from the Old Vic’s Tale, where Place, now a museum dedicated to the the character was played by the most memory of Shakespeare, is located famous member of the cast, Ethan aside the ruins of New Place. Hawke, and the play suffered by Interestingly, the disputed Cobbe retaining nearly all of his very long portrait, proposed as a likeness of part, while abridging the others). Shakespeare in March 2009, was We proceeded to Holy Trinity proudly displayed as the newest Church, the site of Shakespeare’s portrait of the Bard. baptism and burial, and the famous The evening saw us at the epitaph, warning against the Courtyard Theatre, which opened in exhumation of his body: 2006 alongside the River Avon. The GOOD FREND FOR IESUS SAKE Courtyard, currently serving as the FORBEARE, Royal Shakespeare Company’s main TO DIGG THE DVST ENCLOASED theatre while the Royal Shakespeare HEARE. Theatre undergoes refurbishment, BLESTE BE YE MAN YT SPARES THES seemed to lie midway between the STONES, Globe and the Old Vic, as an indoor AND CVRST BE HE YT MOVES MY theatre with a thrust stage. After BONES. reacclimatizing to the atmospheric We continued on to Hall’s Croft, the openness allowed for by the thrust home of Shakespeare’s daughter stage, we settled in to watch The Susanna and her husband, the Winter’s Tale for the second time in physician Dr. John Hall. It contained twenty-four hours. fascinating medical paraphernalia, Thursday morning began with a including a first edition of Hall’s patient- discussion of the previous night’s notes and a frontispiece of Vesalius’s performance, and we were later joined 1543 De humani corporis fabrica libri by the RSC actors Greg Hicks (Leontes) septem. We received an explanation of and Noma Dumezweni (Paulina). The seventeenth-century medical diagnosis,

23 We reconvened for our last performance, the RSC’s As You Like It, far-and-away the choice play of the week. Madame Depledge had secured us amazing seats in the second row, the only drawback being our proximity to the stage for the skinning of a rabbit (already dead, thankfully). Jacques’s melancholic wit was portrayed in a performed through analysis of urine, subtle and elegant manner, as was the and a brief overview of Hippocratic angst and awkward gender-bending of and Galenic humoural theory, which Rosalind, making this the perfect end to posited that humans had four humours, an elucidating bardic tour. and temperaments were dictated by the Photos of the trip can be viewed at this dominant humour; an excess of blood address: corresponded to the sanguine, yellow http://beatricemontedoro72.fotopic.net/ bile to choler, black bile to melancholy, c1738826_1.html and phlegm to the phlegmatic. This trip was amazing! Intense but really enriching. Everyone was very enthusiastic and I had the feeling that it was also the opportunity to discover a different side of London (and Stratford) and to create friendships! This trip gives concreteness to your English literature studies. Eléonor de Pesters, BA student

This study trip surpassed all my expectations: we saw the plays staged, we learnt some acting techniques first-hand and we became an engaged audience of the performances. It was an experience that completely changed my view of Shakespeare's plays. Beatrice Montedoro, BA student.

24 Review of The Winter’s Tale By Beatrice Montedoro Presented by the Royal Shakespeare and the two “times” of the play, Sicilia Company at the Courtyard Theatre, and Bohemia, winter and spring. The Stratford-Upon-Avon, England on June end of the Sicilian winter was marked 18, 2009. Directed by David Farr. by the most spectacular event on stage: Assistant Director Helen Leblique. a cold wind began to blow, making the Lighting Designer Jon Clark. Music two big bookshelves, which had been composed by Keith Clouston. Music used as a backdrop in the scenes Director Bruce O’Neil. Sound by Martin played at the Sicilian court and which Slavin. Designer Jon Bausor. characterized a closed, bookish and Choreography by Arthur Pita. Aerial static atmosphere, fell down. The Consultant Lyndall Merry. Director of destruction and ruin brought by Puppetry Steve Tiplady. With Greg Leontes’s mad jealousy was visually Hicks (Leontes), Kelly Hunter represented by the fall of the books. (Hermione), Noma Dumezweni The progression of the year (Paulina), Darrell D’Silva (Polixenes), turning to springtime, as well as the John Mackay (Camillo), Philip Edgerley Sicilian princess, Perdita’s growing up, (Cleomenes), Samantha Young was signaled by the entering of Time, a (Perdita), Hannah Young (Emilia), divine-like figure lowered down in a James Gale (Antigonus), Tunji Kasim hemisphere. The shift of the two worlds, (Florizel), Brian Doherty (Autolycus), temporally and spatially, was also Larrington Walker (Old Shepherd), highlighted by the timing of the break. Patrick Romer (Time, Mariner, Servant), It was inserted just after the discovery and others. of Perdita’s, and therefore before David Farr’s Winter’s Tale, Time’s speech. The parallel of the performed by the Royal Shakespeare regeneration of the cycle of life and Company, was set in the circular arena nature is thus made: Perdita, who had of the Courtyard Theatre in Stratford- been a “cause” of Sicilia’s ruin – Upon-Avon. I was impressed by this metaphorically also represented by the production’s experienced ensemble and Sicilian winter – in the end becomes the its scenography, two elements which “inspiration” for life and regeneration helped in the creation of meaning. In in her native land, bringing back fact, the actors and the settings springtime in Leontes’s gloomy reign. conveyed the contrast of the two worlds

25 Perdita’s almost divine nature is in general the theme of art as a shown by her costume, made of a counterfeit of nature, also add to this simple gown recalling those of antique sense of continuity. statues, or even those of fairies. Farr decided to represent Moreover, she is barefoot and has her Leontes’s jealousy as senseless, this hair down, which was an unacceptable being the production’s interpretation of state for a woman who wanted to show the play. The first scene is a public one, herself in public. She first appears on a a Christmas banquet set in an tree that is lowered from the top of the atmosphere reminiscent of the off stage: this dynamic change of nineteenth-century Russian court setting gives a hint of the different because of the actors’ costumes and the aspects of the Bohemian world, more cold ambience. It is a public moment, so energetic and in closer contact with the everybody is quite “rigid”, following power of nature than Sicilia, but it also court protocol, all except Hermione and gives the idea of a “superior” world. It Polixenes, who seem to act in a more is not insignificant that Florizel calls her familiar manner. This cannot be really Flora in their lovers’ conversations. perceived by a contemporary The different settings not only audience, so Leontes’s line “too hot, distinguish Sicilia from Bohemia, but too hot” seems to come from nowhere also show certain continuity and paced and for no reason at all. The king’s flow (also due to the fast changes on jealousy is shown as pure madness and stage). The repeated use of the centre the public is not encouraged to of the stage for the most significant sympathize with him. Rather, they are events of the play conveys a sense of prompted to see him as the sole cause unity. It is in the centre of the stage that of his own ruin and pain. Farr decided to place a Christmas Lighting was used to dramatize banquet, where Leontes’s jealousy the jealousy scene, putting the starts; that the chandelier falls, leaving protagonists, Leontes on one side and a large indentation; it is in this centre- his wife and friend on the other, under stage indentation that Antigonus places two red spotlights. Fundamental for the baby Perdita, and it is again in the representation of such a character was centre that the biggest tree, on which the performance of Greg Hicks, who Perdita and then Florizel exchange their consciously showed the restless promises of love, stands. The temperament of the Sicilian king, a man production’s recurrent symbols that tries to personify the dignity due to (leitmotif), for example the books and a humanist court’s king, but that is

26 trapped by his own mind. Leontes’s shepherds and peasants. The costumes restlessness becomes even stronger were also distinctive in this case and during his penitence, when he realizes caused several allusions: on one side, what he has done; he is unable to find one sees a darker and more rigid peace in his spirit, and even his earthly world, closed in a rich interior, while on powers are not capable of reversing his the other side, one finds an open world mad acts. When the strength of the king in direct contact with nature, one that is reels, it is the spiritual power of Paulina, colourful and free The Sicilian court, by the female counterpart of Leontes, contrast, seems to be in contact with which intervenes. The intimacy between nature only through the world of art. the rotten king and the powerful It is also interesting to look at how Paulina, played by an energetic Numa the director decided to stage the final Dumezweni, who took up her first major scene, the statue scene. The statue of role during this RSC season, played an Hermione, acted by an ethereal Kelly extremely important role in the play. It Hunter, faces the public, thus permitting underlined the strange social the audience to share this “sensitive” relationship between the weak king and experience with the characters of the the strong woman who becomes play, who are also staring at the statue. Leontes’s counselor, or even the In this way, characters and audience spiritual guide in his redemption. She is members are unified as one sole group overwhelming, actually molding the of spectators, all looking at the statue of king into the shape she wants: Hermione. Paulina is the “director” of Dumezweni acted using a strong tone this final scene, a moment of of voice and was physically imposing, reconciliation which Leontes’s penitence for instance standing upright in front of was aiming towards. The mysticism and a kneeling king. magic tone of the text at this point - The contrast between the ruined Paulina invokes the faith of her Sicilian court and joyful of Bohemia was audience in order to reanimate also reflected in the costumes: the Hermione’s statue - is reduced because Sicilian courtiers wore black mourning we actually see Hermione’s face and suits covered in dust, whereas the we know that she is not really a marble Bohemians wore colorful, countryside statue. Hermione was not presented in costumes associated with festivals and disguise; the statue was represented in celebrations. The two worlds also a natural way. Paulina’s speech in fact showed two different social classes: generated laughter among the royal soldiers and courtiers versus audience, as a result of the dramatic

27 irony created through their possession Autolycus in order to end his Winter’s of superior knowledge. The pace was Tale: after the happy ending of the faster at the beginning of the play and statue scene, everybody exits through a slowed down towards the end: each backdrop door. Autolycus would like to gesture was underlined and therefore join the jolly company but unfortunately acquired a ritual importance in the final he is shut out, alone. The snow starts to climatic scene where the queen is fall again; winter seems to have reborn. returned. This melancholic ending, Autolycus (Brian Doherty), the which reflects David Farr preference for irreverent thief of Bohemia, does not ending on a sad note, is rather play an instrument as is usually the ambiguous, perhaps suggesting that the case; his voice is accompanied by repentance and reconciliation which we country music, played by other have seen is merely an illusion, or a members of the country world. This temporary state, with the winter snow meta-theatrical aspect was added in as reminding us that life is a circle of an amusement by the RSC production. repetitive events. The director also decided to use

Review of Romeo and Juliet. The Globe, London. 14 June 2009. By Yassin Megzari Dominic Dromgoole’s production of die.” It was a very ingenious way of Romeo and Juliet opens with a trio of preparing the audience for the play’s actors, including Jack Farthing – who first scene, since the Globe offers portrays a vibrant Benvolio – singing nothing in the way of special lighting or for the audience. Music is an element curtains, and it set the tone for the that will remain throughout the overall way the play was to be production, and the trio, with a clever dramatized. touch of humor, remind the audience Humor played an important role that the performance is about to begin throughout, and this production focused and that their mobile phones should be more on the amorous, jovial side of the switched off, or else “surely [they] shall

28 play, a task made easier thanks to the Another way in which the play’s Globe’s particular acting space. more jovial aspects were put forward Seeing the reaction of other audience was that the text was left almost entirely members helps to create a feeling of unchanged, and the musicians’ scene, unity between them and, in this way, which takes place after the discovery of laughter becomes contagious. Even the Juliet’s death, was not cut from the seriousness of a scene like the production. This was a good idea as it apothecary’s was downplayed, as the helped lighten the mood of the play, apothecary very suddenly appeared which had become increasingly through a trap-door not far from the melancholic at that point, and prepared audience, with the surprise effect the audience for the play’s final, creating a wave of nervous laughter. dramatic scenes. Also, the actors readily played along However, the play’s joyful mood with the audience’s mood, and actor also tended to lessen the emotional Fergal McElherron, who was double impact of certain key scenes, which was cast as the Capulets’ servant Peter and one of the production’s shortcomings. Balthazaar, did a splendid job with his Philip Cumbus’s performance as comical portrayal of illiterate Peter. Mercutio was remarkable, but he did Furthermore, the actors freely not manage to fully bring out the used the space reserved for the seriousness and grimness of his Queen “groundlings,” unafraid of mingling Mab speech, as the audience was not with them as they entered a scene. For in the mood to take it seriously. Such instance, before attending the Capulets’ cases as this cannot be fully blamed on party, Romeo and his friends pushed the production itself, but also on the their way through the crowd saying particular difficulty of rendering a “Excuse me, lost our way,” or Friar serious performance at the Globe, Lawrence would give a kind “Bless you where laughter is much more easily my child” to surrounding audience elicited than tears. members before he walked on stage. As mentioned before, music Amongst other things, this helped played a very important role in the create a pleasant atmosphere for the production, and was carefully woven audience members standing, a nice into the play’s action, heightening the touch considering how painful the emotional output of certain scenes. This standing can become during a three was done especially with chanting or hour performance. singing in between the play’s scenes, but also thanks to the talent of the

29 production’s musicians, who really which was a welcome touch and added brought out the tension in the a layer of realism to the production. beautifully choreographed fight scenes These bystanders would act frightened with drums and cymbals. In fact, the and shocked when the Capulets and fight scenes were arguably one of the Montagues fought, as in the opening production’s strong points, and it is scene, further heightening the sense of clear that a good amount of care was realism and reminding the audience of put into them. the consequences which the ongoing The costumes were all feud has on everyday life and Elizabethan, and varied according to everyday people, and of why it is so the characters’ social ranks and necessary for the Prince to put an end loyalties. The Capulets were in red to it. hues, while the Montagues wore more Regarding the actors, the blue, and in a clever touch, both Romeo performances were generally very and Juliet’s costumes tended to impressive, but there were a few weak incorporate elements of both families. points. Adetomiwa Edun portrayed a Paris, a neutral character, was in white, very energetic – perhaps too energetic and Mercutio’s costume was also – Romeo and, though he was able to irregular. The lower classes were deliver his lines in a refreshing manner, dressed less elaborately and in varying his performance ultimately lacked degrees to reflect their social status, emotion. There were sadly many points such as the apothecary, who wore a in the play where one did not feel any simple, dirty white shirt. Later in the genuine love between Romeo and play, to reflect his melancholy mood Juliet, and Edun’s lack of emotion after having been exiled, Romeo is seen played the biggest role in this wearing brown, and after he hears of shortcoming. That is not to say he Juliet’s death he is dressed entirely in lacked talent, or convincingness in most black, as are all the other characters of the scenes, but unfortunately, in a who mourn her death. play like Romeo and Juliet, a feeling of Props such as oil lamps were strong love and passion between the cleverly used to convey the impression two main protagonists is essential if a of night, something essential in an open production hopes to trigger any kind of air theater like the Globe. There were emotional response from the audience. also at times a few extras on stage, The scenes involving the young lovers selling vegetables and the like, to make were thus rather weak in comparison to the setting of fair Verona come to life, other parts of the play. Luckily, this was

30 probably one of the performance’s audience. The same was true of Tom only weak points, along with the Stuart, who played an apparently aforementioned difficulty of prompting clueless Paris in a wholly credible a serious and emotional response from manner. Finally, Ian Redford as Capulet the audience. was riveting, delivering a strong Ellie Kendrick was very convincing performance from start to finish. early on in the play as a young, naïve, Music and singing were put to and love-stricken Juliet, but she was good effect, and the dance at the end slightly less compelling in portraying the of the play provided a nice finish to a strong-willed and more mature Juliet of good performance; the practice of the second half of the play. including dance and music having been Nonetheless, her performance was frequent in Shakespeare’s time, it would admirable on the whole, and she truly also be interesting to know whether or sparkled at times. Other performances not Dromgoole had this in mind when were first-rate, particularly Rawiri staging the production. All in all, Paratene as a passionate Friar Dominic Dromgoole’s production was a Lawrence and Penny Layden as the success, and a very entertaining one at nurse. As mentioned before, Fergal that. McElherron was riotous as the Capulets’ servant, Peter, as he really knew how to elicit laughs from the

More fantastic theatre reviews from the ‘Shakespeare and Performance’ study trip will follow in the spring 2010 issue of NOTED.

31 The comedy that could have been transformed into tragedy… By Sophie Badoux

The theatre group Barbe-à-Papa janitor who delivered the most terrible presented An Ideal Party this year at of news: there had been a the beginning of April. The nine actors misunderstanding in the renting hours of of the troupe had been rehearsing since the room. As a result, we would have to September to finally reveal their leave the building on Saturday and sketches to the audience on the evening Sunday at 6 pm at the latest. If we did of April 4th. Naturally, the troupe had a not respect those schedules, the alarms bit of stage fright, but this was would go off, the doors would incomparable to what had happened a automatically lock themselves, and the few hours before the show. Instead of police would arrive! The fundamental ideal, the party could have been a problem lay in the fact that the show disaster… was planned for 8 pm on Saturday and Firstly, the two managers of the 5 pm on Sunday, and we had already group, Tania and myself, nearly had a distributed over 400 flyers announcing heart attack on the Friday before the our performances! For a moment, time show. Due to the 450th anniversary of seemed to come to a complete stop as the University of Geneva, we were we digested the news that could have unable to get the usual theatre room at proved catastrophic. The beautiful Uni Mail, so we had to rent one dream of our show and the intensive ourselves with the help of the English work we had put into it seemed to turn secretariat. The room was perfect for to ashes. There was no solution, it was our show and the lights were already impossible to postpone the show or set up and ready to use. We could not change the starting hours as we had no have asked for a more cosy and way to inform our audience of these intimate room. It was truly perfect! changes. However, on the Friday, as we The janitor saw our despair and, arrived at the room with the props, because he was convinced that we costumes, and all the sets, we met the were good, young and innocent people

32 with a project that was productive and the use of ultraviolet lights and music. It positive, he decided to help us out. was both a figurative and literal pétage Nearly risking his job, he called an de plombs. Whilst one of us was on the electrician to change the time of the telephone with the janitor trying to find alarm and save our show from an a solution to the problem, the other was inevitable empty room. Everything was desperately pressing every single back to normal. The actors relieved, we button in the place willing the light and could concentrate on rehearsals and sound equipment to work. To make setting everything up. However, it seems matters worse, the electric cables of the that a curse had been laid on our show mixing table were so old that they because our troubles did not end there. disintegrated before our very eyes. The The following day, we had an lights were definitely out of use and it appointment with our light technician, was 6:45 pm… Fortunately, some boys who had kindly accepted to help us out in the troupe knew a few things about for free. Unfortunately, we had hoped electricity and managed to fix the that she would arrive before 6 pm when cables and mixing table just in time for the show was starting only two hours the show. later! As a result of her very late People were now beginning to arrival, we were unable to do a enter the room and we had no choice general run through of the show with but to perform immediately, without a costumes and lighting. We barely had single rehearsal. The stage fright and the time to set the lighting up when the worry that anything might go wrong last and most terrible event happened: was definitely visible on the faces of a fuse blew due to the equipment each of the actors but we were also overheating. From that point on, we not very excited. Finally, our luck changed only lacked lighting and sound, but also for the best and we had the chance to started worrying about all the lighting show the work we had accomplished and music-related cues of the actors. and the passion that we were eager to These were really essential for the share with the audience. On that first overall working of the show as most of evening, the atmosphere within the our scene changes were dependent on group was electric; we had never been

33 so united. Once we were on stage, the full of positive energy, and what started public gave us an inner force that made out as a tragedy became what it was us perform like never before. We were meant to be: a comedy. all shining from the inside, happy and

Review of An Ideal Party by Barbe-à-Papa Aula de l’école des Grottes on 4th and 5th April 2009 By Emma Depledge Having received Barbe-à-Papa’s flyer pleasing treat from the Pemberley cordially inviting us to ‘a theatrical estate. dinner’, we sat down to a menu of bite- The cast, which included Sophie sized theatrical scenes. The dishes Badoux, Nadim Boutemine, Tania included Waiting for Godot – quel Gentet-Ganose, Alex Gjerpe, Marisa amuse-bouche! The Importance of Jotikasthira, Evren Kiefer, Kristijan Being Ernest, served on a bed of dry Marinkovic and Dimitri Monnin-Gillot, English humour and lightly seasoned were incredible and they left us full of with tart wit. An impeccably reared delight, sated with their skills and Ideal Husband, followed by Pyg à la bursting with pride. Malion, all washed down with a palate-

34 Film

The English Department Film Club Fall Semester 2009/2010 Schedule: Films are screened every This programme is displayed on the Thursday evening. notice boards of the Philosophes and of Place:Room B112 at Uni-Bastions the English Department at the Comédie. Time: 19h15 It is also available online on our Who?All students of the English department website, together with more Department are welcome. detailed information about the film club: http://www.unige.ch/lettres/angle/ vie/film.html

Date: Film Title: Director: Proposed by: THU Oct.01, 2009 Get On The Bus (1996) Spike Lee Anna Iatsenko THU Oct.08, 2009 Possession (2002) Neil LaBute Valerie Fehlbaum THU Oct.15, 2009 Charles II (2003) Joe Wright Emma Depledge Franco THU Oct.22, 2009 Hamlet (1991) Lukas Erne Zeffirelli Lukas Erne THU Oct.29, 2009 Wit (2001) Mike Nichols Johanna Harris Laurence THU Nov.05, 2009 The Libertine (2004) Emma Depledge Dunmore Michael THU Nov.12, 2009 A Cock and Bull Story (2006) Elizabeth Kukorelly Winterbottom THU Nov. 19, 2009 An Angel at My Table (1990) Jane Campion Simone Oettli THU Nov. 26, 2009 Excalibur (1981) John Boorman Lucy Perry THU Dec. 03, 2009 Clockers (1995) Spike Lee Anna Iatsenko Stephen THU Dec. 10,2009 The Hours (2003) Kimberly Gaydon Daldry

35 News From the “Film Club” By Anna Iatsenko, Lilia Aghzafi, Valerie Fehlbaum With the new semester brining its load Winterbottom’s A Cock and Bull Story, of new exciting things, we would like to Jane Campion’s An Angel At My Table, add to this excitement by introducing Laurence Dunmore’s The Libertine, a the newly made-over “Film Club” which film by Spike Lee and a few more will replace the previous “Film Cycle” instructive and entertaining films. so many of you are already familiar Although the films we show are with. With the departure of our dear suggested by your instructors and are colleague Michael Röösli, the “Film directly related to their seminars, you Club” team gains two new members: are welcome to invite your friends, Lilia Aghzafi and Anna Iatsenko who, family and those you think may be along with Valerie Fehlbaum, will be interested in attending. We are looking delighted to welcome you to the event. forward to seeing you on Thursday As before, the “Film Club” will take evenings. place in the Fall semester the Bastions building (Room B112) on Thursdays Valerie, Lilia and Anna from 7 p.m. For the Spring semester, we are hoping to find more comfortable lodgings, and we are grateful to Lilia Aghzafi who is working on helping us find a cosier spot. As for our Fall program, we can inform you that it will include films such as Neil LaBute's Possession, Michael

36 Filmic Events and Festivals Compiled by Michael Röösli In and Around Geneva Sep. 21-Dec.14 2009 Cinéclub Universitaire: Geneva Cycle: Wonder Women http://www.a-c.ch/index.php?p=102 Oct. 03-11, 2009 Cinématou Geneva www.cinematou.ch Festival du film d'animation et de fiction. Oct. 14-18, 2009 Underground Film & Music Festival Lausanne www.luff.ch Nov. 02-08, 2009 Cinéma Tous Écrans Geneva www.cinema-tous-ecrans.ch TV feature films in cinema quality, and short film nights with international competitions.

In Switzerland Aug. 21-23, 2009 One Minute Film & Videofestival Aarau www.oneminute.ch Sep. 08-13, 2009 Fantoche Baden Baden www.fantoche.ch International competition and forum for animated films. Sep. 16-20, 2009 Festival du Film Français d'Helvétie Bienne www.fffh.ch Sep. 24 - Oct. 04 Zurich Film Festival Zurich www.zurichfilmfestival.org Oct. 07-11, 2009 Shnit Shortfilm Festival Berne www.shnit.ch Nov. 04-08, 2009 Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur www.kurzfilmtage.ch Nov. 16-20, 2009 FilmON! Lucerne Jan. 21-28, 2010 Solothurner Filmtage Solothurn www.solothurnerfilmtage.ch

37 Film Quiz By Michael Röösli You probably recognise hundreds of film actors from the screen, from posters, magazines and newspapers, but how good are you when it comes to identifying the faces behind the camera? Can you guess which contemporary (except for one) directors these portraits belong to? Find the solutions on the next page, together with a few of their best-known films, which you should immediately recognise…shame on you if you don’t!a

38 Film Quiz Solutions By Michael Röösli 1) Gus Van Sant 5) Ang Lee Famous for his work on parallel tracks A Taiwanese director less known here between mainstream cinema (Good for his early work than for his approach Will Hunting [1997], Finding Forrester to Western culture with a keen and [2000]) and experimental approaches accurate eye. Prime examples are The like in Elephant (2003), Gerry (2002), Ice Storm (1997), Hulk (2003), and or the quasi-identical shot-by-shot Brokeback Mountain (2005). Note also remake of Hitchcock’s Psycho ( Psycho his memorable films Crouching Tiger, [1998]). Most recently on screen was Hidden Dragon (2000) and Sense and Milk (2008). Sensibility (1995). 2) Julie Taymor 6) Alfred Hitchcock See review in Spring NOTED 2008 for Probably the only director whose face Across the Universe (2007), a quest for can be recognised from a few simple the myth of the 1960s through the lens strokes of the pen. Among the most – and ear – of the Beatles. Other well- famous of his 65 + films are The Birds known films include Titus (1999) and (1963), Psycho (1960), Vertigo (1958), Frida (2002). and Rear Window (1954). 3) Mira Nair 7) David Fincher An Indian director well-known on the A master of the clever thriller. The most international film market (Vanity Fair memorable works so far remain Fight [2004]), working among other things Club (1999) and Se7en (1995). Also on and with the Bollywood genre remember Panic Room (2002) with (Salaam Bombay! [1988], Monsoon Jodie Foster and, more recently, Zodiac Wedding [2001]). (2007). 4) David Lynch 8) David Cronenberg Cult director with a broad spectrum of Famous for his strange angles on the work reaching from the surreal human body and its transformation Eraserhead (1977) over The Elephant (Videodrome [1983], The Fly [1986]), Man (1980) and the slow-paced and the Canadian director also loves the sentimental The Straight Story (1999) to challenge to adapt the inadaptable, Blue Velvet (1986), Twin Peaks (1992) such as William Burrough’s Naked and the mind-bending Lost Highway Lunch (1991) or J. G. Ballard’s techno- (1997) and Mulholland Drive (2001). pornographic Crash (1996). After

39 Spider (2002), a psychological drama Days Later (2002) (generically a adapting a novel consisting entirely in zombie film, but without any zombies), introspective discourse through an Sunshine (2007), a science-fiction film ingenious mise-en-scène, Cronenberg playing with references to 2001: A changed directions and confronted his Space Odyssey, Event Horizon, and spectatorship with A History of Violence themes familiar from Ballard novels, (2005) and Eastern Promises (2007). and most recently Slumdog Millionaire 9) Sofia Coppola (2008), in which he flirts and interacts Through films like The Virgin Suicides with the Bollywood genre. (1999), Lost in Translation (2003), and 13) Kathryn Bigelow Marie Antoinette (2006), the daughter Most noted for her sci-fi thriller Strange of famous director Francis Ford Days (1995), Bigelow also deals with Coppola has proven her vast talent. various genres such as the vampire film 10) Jane Campion Near Dark (1987) or the surfer/ Well-known for The Piano (1993), The gangster movie Point Break (1991). Portrait of a Lady (1996), and the dark 14) Pedro Almodóvar and erotic thriller In the Cut (2003). In The Spanish director who managed to the latter, digital techniques are used to set up a bridge between small, unusual blur parts of the screen, creating a productions and a mainstream peculiar, highly intriguing, and spectatorship, and brought his earlier uncannily intimate involvement with the cult-classics, hailed by the gay spectator. community, to a broad variety of 11) Tim Burton audiences. Among these magic, witty, The master of gothic and pleasurably and sometimes hilarious moments are strange and twisted tales has enchanted Law of Desire (1987), and High Heels us with Beetle Juice (1988), Ed Wood (1991). His more recent productions (1994), Sleepy Hollow (1999), The may appear more sober and less Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), overtly humorous, but don’t Big Fish (2003) as well as the musical underestimate the technical and Sweeney Todd (2007). thematic marvels that appear if you 12) Danny Boyle take a closer look. Talk to Her (2002), Instantly famous after his cult film Bad Education (2004), and the most Trainspotting (1996), Boyle set out to recent Broken Embraces (2009) are explore radically different genres and great examples. intertextual techniques in The Beach 15) Woody Allen (2000), the wonderful horror film 28 Trust your Woody to bring a new gem

40 to the screen once a year with [1998]), von Trier is well-known for clockwork precision. However, don’t Breaking the Waves (1996) and Dancer think of him only as the neurotic and in the Dark (2000), as well as for his clumsy but hilarious character of Annie USA-trilogy in progress, which uses an Hall (1977). His incredible intriguingly minimalist film set: Dogville mockumentary Zelig (1983) and his (2003) attacks the romanticised image Dostoyevsky-inspired Match Point of the poor during the Great (2005) show not only the cleverness Depression, Mander la y (2005) and filmic skill of the director, but also controversially dissects the hypocrisy his broad generic and thematic range. and self-congratulation of the whites in Films that appear as inconspicuous little liberating black people from slavery, comedies, like Vicky Cristina Barcelona and who knows what he will be up to (2008), actually reveal themselves as with Washington. His latest film, highly innovative pieces of Antichrist (2009), is currently projected cinematography under closer at Geneva theatres and has caused inspection. highly ambivalent reactions due to its 16) Lars von Trier defamiliarisation and distortion of The enfant terrible of the film world politically correct feminist and religious rebelling against the institutions of film discourses. criticism and American Culture. Apart from his dogma films (e.g. The Idiots

Cinecursus: An interview with Aberrahmane Bekiekh By Michael Röösli What exactly is Cinecursus? filmic language, the familiarisation with Cinecursus was founded 15 years ago cinematic vocabulary and grammar, as within the framework of the activités well as the initiation to script writing. culturelles of the University of Geneva, For those who wish to push their and offers a variety of courses in the field knowledge of filmic language further, of film studies. 150 works are presented for a close Most courses last two days, and usually reading on weekday evenings. We also take place on weekends. They include the have a script-writing workshop where history of cinema – now spanning over each participant is supervised in the one hundred years –, the discovery of process of creating and finalising their

41 own personal screenplay. Finished scripts can also be discussed on an individual How would you define the role of a basis. spectator watching a film? The spectator has to be active and What qualifications does one require in involved while watching a film. order to follow the courses, and is Filmmakers construct and solicit the Cinecursus only aimed at hardcore film spectator; they create while remaining buffs, or does it also cater for the larger, recreational, and engage the spectator in curious, general public? a creative process of their own. No prior skills are necessary. Filmmakers achieve the viewer’s activity Everybody goes to the movies… so these by producing filmic texts pervaded by cinematographic courses and discussions ellipses, gaps and interstices which the are suitable for all, whether beginner or audience has to fill. professional, student or non-student. What fascinates you most about the How do you approach film in your analysis of a film; which filmic teaching? characteristics do you find most When analysing a film, I propose close challenging? readings, image by image, of extracts Every film is interesting; they all carry which the participants have watched at their own secrets, and behind every one the beginning of the class. of them there is a spark of humanity waiting to be discovered. When did you discover your passion for Course participants love complex films the cinema, and what brought you to which are hard to decipher, like Un Chien Cinecursus? Andalou, a surrealist film by Luis Buñuel I discovered the seventh art rather late, in (1928), but also more recent films, such 1983 with Woody Allen’s film Zelig, as The Matrix or Mulholland Drive. which I watched again immediately. This Every film is a challenge, a great new is how I discovered the complexity and adventure. richness of cinematographic language, and understood that one cannot see Many thanks for the interview! everything when first viewing a film. You For more detail consult: need to see a film twice at the very least. That’s when I decided to go back to school. I spent seven years at the www.cinecursus.ch Université de Paris, where I studied communication and cinema. I arrived in Geneva 15 years ago and have been teaching film studies ever since. …

42 Etymology

Perhaps because I was quite peckish later’. This, and the amazing BBC while thinking up this article, I ended up programme ‘The Supersizers Eat…’ in focusing on the vocabulary of food and which food critic Giles Coren examines dining. It started with an oft-repeated the history of food, led me to consider etymological theory, reductionist in its the etymology of culinary vernacular. scope, and generally incorrect; a fact The blanket terms for meals – that reared its ugly head in my summer breakfast, elevenses, lunch, tea, dinner, French class debate, entitled ‘Ce qui est supper – have gradually changed in meilleur: français ou anglais?’ (It was a meaning over time. ‘Dinner’, dating tie.) Language historians, as well as Sir from 1297, from the Old French disner, Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe, have noted a originally meant ‘breakfast’ and later snobbism within the English language, ‘lunch’. ‘Supper’ from 1275, referred an inbuilt hierarchy of words stemming to the evening meal, from the Old from the Norman Invasion of 1066. It French super, probably from soupe, goes like this: English words for animals which was the then-traditional meal of are derived from the Anglo-Saxon: cow, French workers; and before that, the calf, deer, sheep, and pig. Their Old English supan, meaning ‘to sip’. doublets, when presented as food, Thankfully, the following terms are more adopt the French terms: beef, venison, specific. veal, mutton, and pork. The ‘reason’ behind this, is that the conquered ‘Jentacular’ means ‘of or Anglo-Saxons tended the animals for pertaining to breakfast’ (OED). While their victorious overlords, the Normans, ‘breakfast’ dates to the Middle English who ate the meat. Linguist Steven Pinker of 1463 – ‘brek’ + ‘fast’ – the root of dispels this rumour when he notes that ‘jentacular’ comes from the Latin dis- ‘the Anglo-Saxon and French words jejunare (jejunus meaning ‘empty’ or didn’t sort themselves out until centuries hungry) via the French déjeuner. Other alimentary vocabulary includes the

43 verb ‘bedinner’, meaning the act of sophiste comes from the Latin sophista, treating another to dinner. This, as from the Greek sophistes, from sophos, author Ammon Shea points out, is an or ‘clever’. The work depicts a unusual use of the prefix ‘be’. For compotation of sorts, in which a group when the prefix is used in this way, as a of erudite men ‘discuss dinners, complement to the predicate, it literature, and miscellaneous topics of generally becomes ‘in modern usage, every kind’ (OUD). Although nearly all contemptuous’ (OUD). disparagingly hailed by the poet James Examples include the verb to Russell Lowell as a ‘somewhat greasy ‘bemissionary’, or annoy with heap of a literary rag-and-bone-picker’ missionaries, or to ‘bespawl’, or in 1867, it enjoyed a revival by the ‘bespatter with saliva’ (OUD). Genevan philologist Isaac Casaubon in ‘Prandial’ comes from the Latin 1612, and was mentioned in an essay prandium, ‘luncheon, meal’, from pram, by Sir Thomas Browne. In order to be early, and edere, to eat. ‘Pre-prandial’ a deipnosophist, one must be free of dates from 1815, and ‘post-prandial’ ‘deipnophobia’, or the fear of dinner from 1820. ‘Coenaculous’, describing parties. the act of ‘supper-eating’ or ‘supper- Two other verbs related to the loving’ (OED), takes its name from the original ‘deipnosophist’ are the verb coenaculum, or the eating-room of a ‘obligurate’, defined by the Oxford Roman house where supper, coena, English Dictionary as ‘prob.: to spend was consumed. (time) feasting’, and the noun A ‘deipnosophist’ is described by ‘residentarian’, one who is inclined to the Oxford Universal Dictionary as ‘a ‘remain at table’ (OED). Two famous master of the art of dining’; or more residentarians were thirteenth-century specifically, ‘a person who is an adept theologian Saint Aquinas, and conversationalist at table’ (Random nineteenth-century industrialist Diamond House). The word first entered the Jim Brady; the former was said to have English language in 1656, appearing cut a crescent out of his table to allow much earlier, circa the third century for his turgid belly, while the latter B.C.E., in the title of a literary work by would dine until his stomach expanded the Hellenist Athenaeus of Naucratis. to reach the edge of the table. Deipno(n) refers to ‘meal’ or more One might be tempted to label specifically, ‘dinner’, while sophistai these last two specimens as ‘epicures’. identifies a ‘master of his craft’ (OUD). ‘Epicure’ entered English in 1380. An Sophist, from the Middle English ‘epicure’ was a follower of the

44 Athenian philosopher Epicurus. The the first mention of the Scottish dish modern sense of the ‘epicure’, as a haggis, treats ‘Of Potage, hastery, and glutton or gourmand, results from bakun mete, / And petecure’. misunderstanding, or mudslinging, on The last two interesting terms I the part of Epicurus’s opponents – at came across were the absurdly specific first the stoics, and in early modern ‘fleeten’, meaning ‘having the colour of Europe, Christian polemicists. While skimmed-milk’, which is used as an insult Epicurus did indeed advocate the in the case of ‘Fleeten face’, from a pursuit of pleasure, it was namely Beaumont and Fletcher play. The other pleasure as the absence of pain – term, ‘mette’, now out of use, once hardly akin to the gastronomical referred to a ‘companion at the undertakings of Augustine and Brady. table’ (OED), or family relations, But I shall cease my armchair coming from the Old English gemetta, philosophy. Shakespeare uses the word which retained the Germanic base of six times, in varying forms, nearly all mette or ‘meat’. This is culturally pejorative. The traitor Cassius reveals interesting when compared with the that he ‘held Epicurus strong’ ( JC English companion, that literally 5.1.80); Macbeth bids the ‘false thanes’ translates as ‘bread-fellow’ from the to ‘mingle with the English Latin com- or with, and panis, bread. epicures’ ( 5.3.7-8); Goneril Mac Bon appétit! declares that ‘Epicurism and lust’ make Lear’s court ‘more like a tavern or a Susanna Gebhardt brothel / Than a grac'd palace’ (KL References: 1.4.241-3). What I find interesting is etymonline.com the development of the antonym to Oxford English Dictionary ‘epicure’, which is ‘petecure’, derived Oxford Universal Dictionary from the Old French petit keuerie, or wikipedia.com small cookery, which came to refer to Bunny Crumpacker, The Sex Life of modest, ascetic eating – ironically, what Food (New York: Thomas Dunne Books, Epicurus originally proposed. One of 2006) the earliest appearances of this word in Steven Pinker, The Stuff of Thought: English comes in the ‘Liber Cure Language as a Window into Human Cocorum’ of 1430, from Lancashire. Nature (London: Penguin Books, 2007) The author gives an englished title of Ammon Shea, Reading the OED: One ‘The Slyghtes of Cure’, ‘cure’ as Man, One Year, 21,730 Pages (New ‘cookery’. The poem, which includes York: Perigee Book, 2008)

45 Creative Writing

To My Milky Way Dream By Lea Grammatopoulo

A poem isn't easy to write A poem isn't easy to bite

Dr Seuss makes it look easy Dr Seuss makes it feel groovy

His pen flows like a bat From his hat to his cat

My pen in the groove Of the Seine on the move

From your feet to your head My pen is never dead

From my sodomite to my twilight It never says a kite is a dike

But it can sure fuck a duck And it can sure flush a dick

46 It can sure draw a stream It sure can even dream

So off it goes But it never shows

From drewly Snoopy To dandy Droopy

The beat takes us high The sheet thinks it's dry

Whoopee's sticky Doggy's slip'ry

My soul is now liquefied So it is yours to decide

Whether our tangled bodies Will crack like crispy cookies

Or whether we'll take the milky way And soften like a spacecake through whey

So before we get thrown out of the steam, Take me, my darling, in my Milky Way dream, Take me and keep me, For there is no place I'd rather be, Than in my sweet fantasy.

47 Impressum

Contributors: Theatre Editor: Ioana Balgradean Ioana Balgradean Michael Röösli Emma Depledge Other NOTED Team Members: Lukas Erne Illustrations & Logos... Jennifer Wong, Susanna Gebhardt David Spurr Title Page: Susan Heller NOTED Logo...... Jonas Hauert Lea Grammatopoulo Cover Picture...... Michael Röösli Kareen Klein Eléonor de Pesters Beatrice Montedoro Newsletter Layout: Yassin Megzari Arnaud Barras Sophie Badoux Anna Iatsenko Proofreaders: Valerie Fehlbaum Lilia Aghzafi Ioana Balgradean, Emma Depledge, Susanna Gebhardt General Editors: Ioana Balgradean, Emma Depledge

Assistant Editors: Susanna Gebhardt, Arnaud Barras

NOTED is a biannual newsletter produced by the staff and students of the English Department of the University of Geneva. Find your free copy of NOTED at the Department (Comédie), the English library (bd. des Philosophes), or online: http://www.unige.ch/lettres/angle/activites/newsletter_en.html

Publication of the Next Issue: Beginning of Spring term 2010 Deadline for Contributions: 2 December 2009 For Contributions and Feedback:[email protected]