Engaging with the Humanities: Fandom, women and the Shakespearean theatre
The beginnings of a celebrity or star culture in the theatre of Shakespeare’s time.

How many women went to Shakespeare’s plays? This talk explores the evidence and significance of female theatre going in the early modern period.

Professor Smith will discuss the beginnings of a celebrity or star culture in the theatre of Shakespeare’s time, discussing notable actors and, in particular, their appeal to women spectators. She’ll look at the evidence, often negative and satirical, about how women at the theatre were perceived, and trace their changing place in audiences as theatre went upmarket in the seventeenth century. Drawing on histories of consumerism and of celebrity, Smith will identify women theatregoers as crucial to the development of the playhouses within the early modern experience economy.

Schedule:
12:15 – On-site registration & buffet lunch
12:30 – Talk commences
13:30 – Event close
Date: 27 February 2019, 12:30 (Wednesday, 7th week, Hilary 2019)
Venue: Saïd Business School, Park End Street OX1 1HP
Speaker: Emma Smith (Hertford College, Oxford)
Organising department: Saïd Business School
Organiser: Corporate Events, Saïd Business School (University of Oxford)
Organiser contact email address: corporate.events@sbs.ox.ac.uk
Host: Corporate Events, Saïd Business School (University of Oxford)
Part of: Engaging with the Humanities
Topics:
Booking required?: Required
Booking url: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/engaging-with-the-humanities-emma-smith-registration-55029423487?aff=web
Booking email: corporate.events@sbs.ox.ac.uk
Cost: Free - registration required
Audience: Public
Editor: Rebecca Freeman