Pack Up Your Troubles: Performance Cultures in the First World War
27 – 29 April 2016
Booking is now open for this three day conference at the University of Kent organised by Gateways to the First World War and supported by the Western Front Association.
From the popular to elite, amateur to professional, a wide range of performative genres had a significant impact on the fighting spirit of servicemen and civilians in all combatant countries. Yet this vital area of the conflict has yet to be subject to in-depth academic attention. This conference will explore a variety of performance cultures in all theatres of war, on the home and fighting fronts, 1914-1918, seeking to extend the breadth and depth of our knowledge of this important area of First World War studies.
Featuring keynote lecture-performances by:
Neil Brand, writer, composer and silent film accompanist and Dr Kate Kennedy, Research Fellow in English and Music at Girton College Cambridge.
The conference will include a performance of Friend or Foe? Voices of World War One at the Gulbenkian Theatre and a screening of Charlie Chaplin’s The Vagabond (1916).
A combination of keynotes, panel sessions, workshops and performances will feature work on a broad range of wartime subjects including music, music hall, theatre, cinema and dance.
All-inclusive conference package, with bed & breakfast accommodation, ticket for Friend or Foe? performance and conference dinner, £275 (concessions £150).
Day rates also available.
Special rates are available for members of community groups working on First World War projects and our Community Heritage Researcher Dr Sam Carroll will be holding drop-in advice sessions.
5% discount for members of the Western Front Association.
Please email gateways@kent.ac.uk for further information of discounted rates.
Full details, including programme and booking link can be found at www.gatewaysfww.org.uk/events/pack-your-troubles-performance-cultures-first-world-war