The Monstrous and the Theatre – Staging of Monstrous Bodies and Orders

 

International conference with contributions from science and art

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Whether the grotesque, monstrous dances of Valeska Gert, who calls herself a witch, the monstrous collages and gender-norm-breaking self-stagings of Claude Cahun, the animal-human montages of Frida Kahlo or the thousand bloody deaths of the famous Paula Maxa in the Théâtre du Grand Guignol in Paris - the historical avant-gardes are permeated by stagings of monstrous bodies and orders. Today, the stagings of Eisa Jocson, Rébecca Chaillon, Susanne Kennedy and Florentina Holzinger, which can certainly be described as monstrous, are touring Europe and fascinating audiences - sometimes using similar strategies to those used by their colleagues from the historical avant-gardes, sometimes using completely new ones. As part of the conference The Monstrous and the Theater - Staging of Monstrous Bodies and Orders, artists and scientists are invited to explore the phenomenon of the monstrous in history and/or the present. There will be German and English contributions on both monstrous orders and the staging of monstrous bodies.

 

Dates and location:

11-13.04.2024 Georg-Büchner-Saal in the Old University Library, Bismarckstraße 37, 35390 Gießen

Program:

Thu 11.04.24 14-18:30h; Fri 12.04.24 10-19:15h; Sat 13.04.24 9:30h-13:45h

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Thursday 11.04.2024 INSZENIERUNGEN MONSTRÖSER KÖRPER // THE MISE-EN-SCÈNE OF MONSTROUS BODIES

Keynote I:

Dr. Birgit Stammberger „Das Monströse gibt es nicht. Wissenskulturelle und queerfeministische Überlegungen zu Grenzfiguren der Nicht-Binarität“

Panel I: 

Marie Simons „Breaking the Mould. Building Bodies between Gender Conformity and Monstrosity“

Prof. Dr. Jens Roselt „Kleid frisst Frau – Monströse Kostüme im Theater“ 

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Friday 12.04.2024 DIE DE-MONTAGE DES MONSTRÖSEN // THE DE-CONSTRUCTION OF THE MONSTROUS

Keynote II:

Prof. Michael Chemers „CALL THE WOLF! Rhineland Werewolf Trials and their Theatrical Legacies”

Panel II:

Meriam Bousselmi „LE SOUTENEUR NATUREL DES JUGEURS – Staging the Monstrosity of the Norm“

Prof. Analola Santana „From Monster to Freak: A Latin American Genealogy of Corporeal Difference”

Panel III:

Dr. Ekaterina Trachsel „The De-Montage of Femininity as a Monstrous Practice“

Dr. des. Eva Döhne „Medusa, die Figur aus dem Draußen mit dem klingenden Körper und die (Un)darstellbarkeit der Frau“

Panel IV:

Dr. Livia Piazza „To Open the Shut Eyes of the Corpse. Performing Resurrections”

Prof. Dr. Xavier Le Roy „Where are the monsters?” (lecture performance) 

 

Samstag // Saturday 13.04.2024 MONSTRÖSE ORDNUNGEN – MONSTROUS ORDERS

Keynote III:

Prof. Dr. Susanne Foellmer „‚Hier gibt’s nur Monster.‘ Vom theatralen Entbergen des nicht-mehr-soVerborgenen in aktuellen politischen Kontexten“

Panel V: 

Dr. Martina Ruhsam „Aneignung als Austreibung: Claire Vivianne Sobottkes Performance Velvet als eine feministische Praxis des Fremdwerdens“ Prof. Dr. Gerald Siegmund „Monstrous Imagination: Denis Diderot and the Body of the Actor”

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Contributors:

Prof. Michael Chemers (director THE CENTER FOR MONSTER STUDIES at UC Santa Cruz (USA)), Prof. Dr. Susanne Foellmer (Coventry Univsersity (UK)), Dr. Birgit Stammberger (University of Lübeck), Meriam Bousselmi (University of Hildesheim), Dr. des. Eva Doehne (Goethe University Frankfurt aM), Dr. Livia Piazza (JLU Gießen), Prof. Dr. Jens Roselt (University of Hildesheim), Prof. Dr. Xavier Le Roy (JLU Gießen), Dr. Martina Ruhsam (JLU Gießen), Prof. Analola Santana (Dartmouth College (USA)), Prof. Dr. Gerald Siegmund (JLU Gießen), Marie Simons (freelance scientist, artist and author), Dr. Ekaterina Trachsel (JLU Gießen).

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More information about the conference program can be found at: https://www.uni-giessen.de/en/faculties/f05/theatre/academics/research/monstrous

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Supported by the Hessian Theatre Academy

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Many thanks to the participants of the practical course "Podcast production 'The Monstrous and the Theater' in the summer semester of 2024. Editing, mixing and sound design:

Wanda Berger, Joana de Godoy Ferraz, Isidora Gazmuri Donoso, Zuzanna Olczyk, Donia Sbika, Pao-Chang Tsai.

with support from Antonia Beeskow.