Beckett and Laughter
Wednesday, 31 July 2019, 11am – 1pm 
The Samuel Beckett Summer School, celebrating its ninth year of working at the cutting edge of new discourses in Beckett Studies, will offer a panel discussion and "long table" event on the topic of Beckett and Laughter as its traditional Wednesday morning "plenary" discussion. Hosted by co-director of the Summer School Nicholas Johnson, guests invited to the table – Raymond Keane and Eva Kenny – will discuss a wide range of issues, including the embodiment of laughter in Beckett's drama and prose, some possible origins for Beckett's own sense of humour, and the formal characteristics of comedy and "tragicomedy" in Beckett's oeuvre. We hope that by considering the wider implications of "laughter", both as an embodied act and as it appears within Beckett's literature, will extend Beckett's insights into wider educational, medical/neuroscientific, and philosophical landscapes.
The panel will run from 11 AM to approximately noon, and after a short break, the audience will be invited to contribute with a structured but open discussion until 1 PM. The event will be open to the public, accessible, and free of charge (but ticketed).
Biographies
Raymond Keane is a clown/actor/director and teacher. He was a founding member of the multi-award winning Barabbas Theatre Company. Under Sarah Jane Scaife’s (CompanySJ) he has performed Beckett’s Act Without Words II, Rough for Theatre I, Fizzles and Company. These works continue have presented nationally and internationally from Dublin (Dublin Theatre Festival) to London at The Barbican, Paris Beckett Festival, New York River to River Festival and Tokyo Japan. Other recent performances include Ulysses at The Abbey Theatre and The Taming of the Shrew at The Globe Theatre London.
Eva Kenny received a BA in English and Art History from University College Dublin and completed her PhD in Comparative Literature at Princeton University in November 2019. Her doctoral dissertation, "Vox Manet: Samuel Beckett's Novels of Possession and Dispossession 1938–1955," was on the surrealist influence on Beckett's breakthrough prose. She is currently at work on the manuscript of her first book, Samuel Beckett and the Arts of Dispossession, on Beckett's reception amongst minimal and conceptual artists in New York in the late 1960s and 1970s. A writer and frequent contributor to arts publications, she is based in Dublin.
Image courtesy of the Library of Trinity College Dublin.
The public programme of the Samuel Beckett Summer School is generously supported by Dublin UNESCO/City of Literature and Larry and Mary Lund, as well as the Trinity Long Room Hub.
Tickets are free, but advance booking is advised. If you wish to make a contribution to future Beckett Summer School activities, please select "donation" on the ticketing options; 100% of all proceeds from donations go to the tenth anniversary Summer School (2020) public programme.
See full details of the public program here.
Campus Location: Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute
Accessibility: Yes
Room: Neill Lecture Theatre
Research Theme: Creative Arts Practice
Event Category: Public
Type of Event: One-time event
Audience: Public
Cost: Free, register here: bit.ly…
More info: bit.ly…
