Semester 1 2019-20

         

25 September 2019 – Rosa Luxembourg (Film Screening and Discussion)

Charting the life of one of the 20th century’s most iconic political figures, this biopic is a key work in the oeuvre of feminist filmmaker, Margarethe von Trotta. It is emblematic of her enduring interest in strong female protagonists and her belief that the personal is political. Luxemburg is played by Barbara Sukowa in a performance that won her the Palme d’Or for Best Actress. Rosa Luxemburg is part of a retrospective of von Trotta’s work organised by the Independent Cinema Office. The screening will be followed by a conversation with Seán Allan and Dora Osborne from the Department of German, School of Modern Languages.


         

9 October 2019 – Some of My Best Friends…

What does a play set in Chicago in 1959 (Act I) and 2009 (Act II) have to say to audiences in Scotland today? Although Bruce Norris’s Clybourne Park is historically and geographically-informed, the issues that it raises transfer without too much difficulty across the Atlantic. Above all, Norris’s skewering of our racial and personal prejudices demonstrates how uncomfortable truths can make us squirm at the same time that they make us laugh. Join theatre historian, Julia Prest, and members of Rapture Theatre for a lively discussion of some of the issues raised by putting on this play in contemporary Scotland.


23 October 2019 – French Impressions: An Evening with Verlaine, in Song

The impressionist poetry of Paul Verlaine, with its subtle nuances and rich musicality, has long been a favourite with composers. His poem La lune blanche (The white moon) has been set to music by no fewer than 140 composers, from 1870 to the present day. Join French lecturer David Evans, and staff and students of the University Music Centre, for a lecture-recital featuring performances of different settings of this poem by composers as diverse as Massenet, Fauré, Hahn, Delius, Stravinsky, Poldowski, Szulc, Sorabji and Webern as well as Nevin, Loomis and Hennessy (US), John MacEwen (Scotland) and Johanna Bordewijk-Roepman (Netherlands).


13 November 2019 – Discovering Leonard Cohen’s Literary Production

Leonard Cohen’s writing career began long before he picked up the guitar. After successfully publishing his first collection of poetry, The Spice-Box, in 1961, Cohen was under the impression that he had made a breakthrough in the Canadian literary scene. However, the mixed reviews he received pushed Cohen to relinquish his literary ambitions in favour of song writing. Join university staff members and Prof Silvia Albertazzi (University of Bologna) – author of the first and only critical monograph on Cohen’s entire literary production – on a journey to discover Cohen’s beautiful writings accompanied by his most famous music.