Shakespeare's Globe Gesture Lab

November 5th -7th 2010 at Shakespeare's Globe

Advising artists about imitation, Leonardo da Vinci suggested they "take
pleasure in carefully watching those who talk together with gesticulating
hands, and get near to listen to what makes them make that particular gesture"
(fol. 1). The Shakespeare's Globe Gesture Lab will conduct a similar
experiment by bringing together theatre practitioners, drama scholars,
cognitive theorists and psychologists to investigate the relationship gesture
and thought have to performance. What is the relationship between gesture and
thought? How do actors incorporate gesture into their performances? How
conscious is the actor's hand? Can we develop a theory of acting or a method of
actor training by studying historical gestures?

Over the three days, theatre practitioners will conduct experiments on the Globe
stage and academics will give papers on a variety of topics related to these
questions and together discuss the dynamic relationship between the hand and
mind in performance.

Experiments include: Ben Naylor and Anna Morrissey (The Central School of Speech
and Drama) 'The Bulwer Project' ; Tom Cornford (University of Warwick)
'Thinking with Your Hands: Michael Chekhov's "Language of Gestures"'; Stephen
Purcell (Southampton Solent University) and Andy
Kesson (University of Kent) '"Here, where you are": Investigating Dramatic and
Theatrical Space'

Speakers include: Dr Paul Menzer (Mary Baldwin College, Virginia), Professor
David McNeil (University of Chicago), Professor Evelyn Tribble (University of
Otago, New Zealand), Dr Terri Bourus (Indiana University), Dr Farah
Karim-Cooper (Shakespeare's Globe), Professor Geoff Beattie (Manchester
University)

Registration opens in October. For more information, please contact Dr. Farah
Karim-Cooper on farah@shakespearesglobe.com
*