 | A silhouette of Friedrich Schiller, who is considered the most important German dramatist. |
An international conference celebrating the German playwright Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805) on the occasion of the bicentennial of his death will take place at Yale on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 4 and 5.
Titled "Aesthetic Theory and Dramatic Production. Anglo-American Perspectives After 200 Years," the event is sponsored by the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, the Whitney Humanities Center, the German department and Jonathan Edwards College.
There will be two keynote addresses on Friday afternoon 4-6 p.m. -- "Schiller as Philosopher Today" by Frederick Beiser, professor of philosophy at Syracuse University, and "Schiller: The German Nation's Favorite Poet" by Ute Frevert, professor of history at Yale. Both will be held at the Beinecke Library, 121 Wall St. On Saturday, there will be a series of presentations 10 a.m.-6 p.m. at the Whitney Humanities Center, 53 Wall St. The event is free and open to the public, but pre-registration is suggested. For a complete list of speakers and topics or to register, visit the website at http://highway49.library.yale.edu/schiller.
In conjunction with the conference, there will be a concert reading of Schiller's play "Wallenstein's Camp," the prelude to his historical drama "Wallenstein," about the 30 Years War. The production features a new translation by Yale professors Cyrus Hamlin and Howard Stern. The performance will be directed by David Muse, a graduate of both Yale College (1996) and the School of Drama (2003), who is now associate director of the Shakespeare Theater in Washington, D.C. The cast will feature actors from New York City and the Yale Theater Studies Program. Music is composed by Bill Collins and Matthew Suttor.
The performances will be at 8 p.m. on Friday and at 7 p.m. on Saturday in Sudler Hall on the second floor of William L. Harkness Hall, 100 Wall St. Jeffrey Sammons, professor emeritus of German at Yale, will give an introductory talk on the play prior to each performance. The production of "Wallenstein's Camp" is being supported by Jonathan Edwards College through the generosity of Master Gary Haller.
The conference and the performance have been planned and organized by Hamlin, professor of German and comparative literature, and Christa Sammons, curator of German literature at the Beinecke Library. An exhibition of books, manuscripts and documents relating to the life and work of Schiller will be presented at the Beinecke Library in conjunction with the colloquium.
Schiller has been described as the most important dramatist of German literature and is also regarded as one of the leading theorists of aesthetics. He wrote several essays on beauty, art, education and culture during the mid-1790s under the influence of the critical philosophy of Immanuel Kant. He is identified, along with the poet Goethe, with the literary and cultural phenomenon termed Weimar Classicism. During the last decade of Schiller's life, he was in close contact with Goethe through almost daily exchanges of letters, and Goethe, as director of the theater in Weimar, produced and directed each of Schiller's later dramas.
Among the most celebrated of Schiller's plays are "The Robbers," "Don Karlos," "Wallenstein," "Maria Stuart" and "Wilhelm Tell." His plays were performed throughout Europe during the early 19th century and served as the basis for a number of operas by Verdi and Rossini. Several productions of his works have been staged during the current Schiller bicentennial year -- notably in London.
T H I S
Campus events celebrate German
dramatist Friedrich Schiller
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