This colloquium has been organised by a group of scholars who are investigating rehearsal practices in the European theatre prior to the advent of the ‘director’. Contributions, in the form of 20-25-minute papers, are invited, especially from those who are interested in issues connected with pre-modern, but also with more recent historical, performance preparation practices.



A central problem in researching the preparation of performances past is the dearth of material on which to work. After all, rehearsal, by its very nature, is an essentially private activity, so how are we to find out ‘how they did it in the past’? It is hoped that this colloquium will provide some answers to questions such as:


• How different were historical rehearsal/preparation practices from those of today?
• How might we discover what went on behind the closed doors of the rehearsal room in times gone by?
• How were complex productions such as operas, court ballets, comedy-ballets, involving words, music, dance and spectacular design, put together and brought to the stage?
• Did improvising actors need to rehearse?


The colloquium will run from the afternoon of Sunday 5 July to midday on Tuesday 7 July 2009 and will be held in the Io Myers Studio, the University of New South Wales, Kensington, Sydney.



Registration fee: $70, student concession $30.
This fee will include the costs of a light welcoming buffet-supper, tea and coffee each day, lunch on Monday and farewell drinks.



Anyone interested in submitting a proposal for a paper should send a 300-word abstract to either Laura Ginters (laura.ginters@usyd.edu.au) or John Golder (j.golder@unsw.edu.au) by 30 April.   



This colloquium has been supported by the Network for Early European Research, the University of NSW and the University of Sydney.