SHOWS

Tale, Translation and Trajectory of Peer Gynt through a contemporary lens; a panel discussion

Presented by DCA Theater & Polarity Ensemble Theatre

Monday, December 05
7:00 PM — 8:30 PM
Claudia Cassidy Theater
FREE

This event is presented in conjunction with the Chicago premiere production of the Robert Bly translation of Henrik Ibsen’s Peer Gynt, which is playing November 15 through December 18 at the Storefront Theater.

Join us to explore the literary roots, poetic form, and context of Peer Gynt throughout time and today.

Featuring the expertise of the following local scholars:

Dr. Kimberly Kenny is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Chicago in the Department of Germanic Studies. She teaches beginning and intermediate Norwegian language, as well as Norwegian literature. Trained as a comparatist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she teaches courses which seek to integrate Germanic literatures: “Reconnecting Two Germanic Literatures,” which examines connections between Hamsun and Kafka, Mann and Kielland, and Ibsen and Hauptmann; “Comparative Fairy Tale,” which encompasses Norwegian, Danish (H.C. Andersen), and German (Bros. Grimm) fairy tales, and “Scandinavian Women’s Literature.” In a strictly Norwegian vein, she offers a course on Ibsen, as well as one dealing with the Nazi Occupation of Norway called, “Literature of the Occupation.”

Dr. Victoria Frenkel Harris is Professor Emerita of English at Illinois State University. She has written extensively on American poetry and cultural theory, with chapters written and papers presented at international conferences on the work of Robert Bly as well as Adrienne Rich, Denise Levertov, Carole Maso, Jorie Graham, and James Wright. Harris is the author of the critical study The Incorporative Consciousness of Robert Bly (Southern Illinois University Press, 1991). Harris presented a paper at the 2009 “Robert Bly in this World” conference sponsored by the University of Minnesota Libraries entitled: “Robert Bly: Still Taking on the Wor(l)d”. 

Heath W. Carter is a Ph.D. Candidate in United States history at the University of Notre Dame, revising a manuscript entitled “Union Made: Working People and the Rise of Social Christianity in Chicago.” He is also a Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellow, as well as a graduate scholar-in-residence at Chicago’s Newberry Library. He has held several teaching positions including teaching a course on History of Religion in the United States at Loyola University Chicago and seminars at the Newberry Library including: “A People’s History of Chicago, 1880-1960” and “Everyday America, 1865-1968.” He obtained his Master of Arts in United States History from the University of Notre Dame, his Master of Arts in American Religious History from The University of Chicago, and his Bachelor of Arts in English from Georgetown University.

Jeremy Wechsler is the Artistic Director of Theater Wit & director of the Chicago Premiere production of Robert Bly’s translation of Peer Gynt. At Theater Wit, he has directed Spin (Penny Penniston), Chemin de Fer (Georges Feydeau), Men of Steel (Qui Nguyen), Thom Pain (based on nothing) (Will Eno), Two for the Show (James Fitzpatrick and Will Clinger) and The Santaland Diaries (David Sedaris and Joe Mantello). He has directed over forty shows in the last fifteen years at various theatres. He has taught at several universities, is an Artistic Associate at Collaboraction and currently serves on the board of the League of Chicago Theatres.  His productions have been nominated for and won multiple awards for design, performance, adaptation and best new work.