UC Davis experts: Shakespeare

In conjunction with the new education agreement between the Globe Theatre of London and UC Davis, the campus has a number of scholars who are experts on various aspects related to Shakespeare and his current-day relevance. If you need information on a topic not listed, please contact Claudia Morain, News Service, (530) 752-9841, cmmorain@ucdavis.edu.

On stage and teaching young people

• Teaching The Bard's importance today
• Directing on the professional American stage

About the culture reflected

• Domestic crimes in Shakespeare's time
• Gender, family, medicine and politics in Shakespeare's time
• Gender and literacy issues
• Shakespeare on the middle years
• Shakespeare and his contemporaries

ON STAGE AND TEACHING YOUNG PEOPLE

Teaching the Bard's importance today

UC Davis theatre and dance professor Peter Lichtenfels can discuss issues and solutions for performing Shakespeare's plays. He can also offer many stories about the Globe Theatre where Shakespeare worked in early 17th century London, about the experience of working on the Globe stage (the best reconstruction of a 17th century English theatre that exists today), and about why working on Shakespeare's plays and language is important to young people today. A professional director in Britain for nearly 30 years, Lichtenfels has been associated with the Globe for the past eight years. He is co-editing with UC Davis professor Lynette Hunter a book about an unusual conference that drew theatre professionals and Shakespeare scholars to the Globe in 2003 and a second book on "Romeo and Juliet" that explores the interrelation of the law and religion, the family and the individual, and the significance of new medical ideas about sex and gender. Contact: Peter Lichtenfels, Theatre and Dance, (530) 752-2478, plichtenfels@ucdavis.edu.

Directing on the professional American stage

Peggy Shannon, a UC Davis professor of theatre and dance and the associate vice provost of outreach and engagement, has spent the past 20 years directing plays in professional theatres throughout America. She can talk about current production trends in American Shakespearean productions, the challenges of directing Shakespeare with American actors, and connecting professional Shakespearean productions to middle and secondary school Language Arts Frameworks. These connections would include study guides, dramaturgical talks, marketing efforts and student matinee performances. As both an educator and a professional artistic director, Shannon can talk about the necessary links in teaching and performing Shakespeare to deepen understanding and appreciation of the overall text. Shannon has directed productions of Shakespearean plays at many of America's most prestigious Shakespearean festivals including the Utah, Colorado, New Jersey, Idaho, Orlando and California Shakespeare Festivals as well as other professional theatres affiliated with the League of Professional Theatres. Contact: Peggy Shannon, University Outreach and International Programs, (530) 752-7071, pshannon@ucdavis.edu.

ABOUT THE CULTURE REFLECTED

Domestic crimes in Shakespeare's time

How did those living in the Elizabethan era view domestic killings compared to the views that people hold today? UC Davis Shakespeare scholar Frances Dolan can talk about the issue, using "Othello" and "Macbeth" as examples. Dolan, an English professor, is outgoing president of the Shakespeare Association of America. Besides editing five Shakespeare plays for the New Pelican textbook series, Dolan has written widely about Shakespeare and his times, including her books "Whores of Babylon: Catholicism, Gender, and Seventeenth-Century Print Culture," "Dangerous Familiars: Representations of Domestic Crime in England, 1550-1700," and "The Taming of the Shrew: Texts and Contexts." Contact: Frances Dolan, English, (530) 754-4897, fdolan@ucdavis.edu.

Gender, family, medicine and politics in Shakespeare's time

UC Davis theatre and dance professor Lynette Hunter, who focuses on the history of rhetoric and performance, can talk about gender, the family, medicine and politics in the study of Shakespeare. Hunter has been affiliated with the Globe Theatre in London for the past eight years. Other topics that she could speak about are science and sexuality in the Renaissance, printing presses and the way they changed society, women in medicine, Renaissance food preparation and consumption, social behavior and manners (e.g. in sword fighting and dancing). She is co-editing a book with UC Davis Professor Peter Lichtenfels about an unusual conference that drew theatre professionals and Shakespeare scholars to the Globe in 2003, a second book on "Romeo and Juliet" that explores the interrelation of the law and religion, the family and the individual, and the significance of new medical ideas about sex and gender. Contact: Lynette Hunter, Theatre and Dance, (530) 752-5658, lhunter@ucdavis.edu.

Gender and literacy issues

UC Davis English professor Margaret Ferguson is a scholar of Renaissance literature who can discuss a number of topics regarding Shakespeare's work, including sexual differences in the late 16th and early 17th century. A former trustee of the Shakespeare Association of America, Ferguson wrote "Dido's Daughters: Literacy, Gender, and Empire in Early Modern England and France," which deals with Renaissance ideas about literacy. For that work, in 2004 she won the best book award from the Society for the Study of Early Modern Women and the Roland Bainton Prize for Literature. She is also a co-editor of the "Norton Anthology of Poetry." Contact: Margaret Ferguson, English, (530) 750-1950, mwferguson@ucdavis.edu.

Shakespeare on the middle years

UC Davis English professor Karl Zender teaches and writes about how characters develop from middle age onward in works by Shakespeare, Faulkner and Dreiser, among others. He is writing a book about mid-life issues in several Shakespeare plays that is scheduled for completion in 2006. "Shakespeare in 'King Lear' and 'Antony and Cleopatra' -- in fact, in all of his late tragedies and romances -- is concerned with how well (and whether) people make the transition from seeming to be the center of the universe to accepting and supporting the next generation," Zender says. A Faulkner scholar, Zender wrote "The Crossing of the Ways: William Faulkner, the South and the Modern World" (1989) and "Faulkner and the Politics of Reading" (2002). Contacts: Karl Zender, English, (530) 752-5469, kfzender@ucdavis.edu.

Shakespeare and his contemporaries

UC Davis English professor Richard Levin's areas of research and teaching include Renaissance literature and drama. He has published "Love and Society in Shakespearean Comedy" and "Shakespeare's Secret Schemers." In addition to Shakespeare, Levin focuses on the dramatic and non-dramatic writings of Shakespeare's contemporaries. He is currently preparing an edition of Shakespeare's Sonnets. Contact: Richard Levin, English, (530) 752-8245, ralevin@ucdavis.edu.

Media contacts:

• Claudia Morain at the UC Davis News Service, (530) 752-9841, cmmorain@ucdavis.edu

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