Q&A: Viewpoint from centre stage
The University of Victoria’s "City Talks" series focuses on what our cities mean to us. An initiative of faculty across campus, the downtown lecture series was launched last year by UVic’s Committee for Urban Studies, under the guidance of UVic historian Dr. Jordan Stanger-Ross. One of the participating faculty members spoke with The Ring about this year's first session.
For the 2011/12 season, the first trio in the series (Sept. 22, Oct. 27 and Nov. 24) explores how theatre and arts can impact the city. The second (Jan. 19, Feb. 16 and March 15) will delve into governance and the politics of urbanism.
Dr. Janelle Jenstad, associate professor in UVic's Department of English, attended the first presentation ("Theatre and the City: Early Modern London in Reality and On the Stage” on Sept. 22) by Columbia University’s Dr. Jean Howard. Jenstad coordinated the first three of six monthly lectures. More info on lectures
The Ring: What would you say was the central message of the Sept. 22 lecture, and how can that message apply to our own city and century?
Jenstad: The shape of early modern London changed so fast. The city was bursting out of its boundaries. From 1560 to 1600, it quadrupled in size then doubled again in the next 50 years. That’s an eightfold increase in less than a century. The city went from being a relatively insignificant town to being the trading city of Europe. Much of the literature reflected these economic and demographic changes. Any time an urban setting undergoes such growth and change, you’ll get an artistic engagement.
The lecture was mostly historical in perspective, but the message is generally interesting at any level. Theatre is well poised to capture and reflect changes in a city, because theatre tends to be an urban phenomenon.
The Ring: Why did you choose the theme of theatre in the city?
Jenstad: The first three lectures as a whole allow us to think about how theatre talks about the city. I’m a theatre person. The very first thing I do when arriving in a city is get the theatre listings. The urban experience is, for me, a theatrical experience.
The Ring: Can you tell us more about the next two lectures?
Jenstad: The Oct. 27 lecture, “The Monument from Kigali to Toronto: Performing Genocide Across Urban Space and Time” by Dr. Kim Solga of University of Western Ontario, looks at how a stage performance originally written for audiences in Kigali, Rwanda, changes when it comes to Toronto. This play is painful. It feels far away. Bringing the production to a Canadian city makes the faraway pain here and now.
The Nov. 24 lecture, “Community Art and the City: A European View” by Dr. Eugène van Erven of Utrecht University, is about how cities use theatre to manage their own communities and how communities are using theatre to manage their own identities. Examples here would be “Bard on the Beach” in Vancouver. How is it different from the Stratford or New York festivals? In Victoria, the Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre makes use of the name of the city’s Johnson St. bridge, while The Belfry is housed in a former local church…and this is just to name two companies in town.
The Ring: In your opinion, what role does the lecture series play in outreach and community engagement?
Jenstad: UVic is physically located away from the city’s core. A really significant thing about this series is that it takes place downtown at UVic’s Legacy Art Gallery. We offer so much up here on campus. With this series, we’re going the other way and taking it downtown.
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