Early Modern Realities, Modern Productions

This panel for the Midwest Modern Language Association conference seeks papers on English literature and its intersections with science and medicine prior to 1800 for the annual meeting to be held in Cleveland, Ohio (November 8, 2007 -November 11, 2007). "Renaissance Drama in Performance: Early Modern Realities, Modern Productions" invites papers that explore modern stage and film enactments of early modern dramatic texts, both Shakespearean and non-Shakespearean. How do these productions broaden and/or limit our understandings of playtexts and their meanings? How do today's performances influence our perceptions of the realities governing the contexts in which early modern plays were first produced? We are particularly interested in papers that consider the potential convergences, conflicts, and complications that can result when presenting early modern political, social, and gender dynamics for modern audiences. Please submit abstracts (250 words) to Hillary Nunn, Univ. of Akron, nunn@uakron.edu, by April 16.