SaM  
Shakespeare and the Mediterranean 
Summer School    
Antony and Cleopatra  

24-31 August 2023

Since classical antiquity, the Mediterranean has been a breeding ground for cultural formation and transformation, extraordinarily capitalised on by Shakespeare, who set many of his plays there, re-elaborating narratives, cultural models, theatregrams, epistemological perspectives, and visual and material art forms. In turn, Italy and the other Mediterranean cultures are nowadays responding to the aesthetic and cultural stimuli of those plays, with ever new interpretations and reinterpretations.

The SaM Summer School will approach Shakespeare and the Mediterranean from a double perspective that integrates source studies and performance studies: from the Mediterranean sources of Shakespeare to Shakespeare as a source of new adaptations and rewritings in the heart of the Mediterranean. The third edition will concentrate on Antony and Cleopatra in a Mediterranean context.

Participants to the summer school are free to choose in-person or remote attendance (group A only). Minimum attendance: 80%. Participants will be divided into three groups:

  • BA students (third year and near-graduates); Master’s and Doctoral students, as well as schoolteachers (Group A). Students of group A should have at least a B2 level in English.
  • Acting School students and graduates as well as performers (Group B).
  • Journalists, writers, dramaturgs, directors, theatre critics, students and professionals in media and communication, literature students (Group C).

The summer school is designed as a cycle of lectures and workshops offered in a face-to-face environment or as synchronous online teaching.

Participants in group A are free to choose the most suitable mode. Students will receive some study material before the classes. 

Participants in group B will be invited to join a series of free, live-virtual classes in Shakespeare’s verse, prior to the start of the summer school. The classes will be led by Jaq Bessell, and details of these will follow registration. 

From the 24th to the 31st of August the third edition of the Verona Shakespeare Fringe Festival (VSFF) will take place at the Teatro Camploy. Attendance to the Festival and the Q&A sessions is compulsory for the students of the summer school 

The Summer School will admit up to 75 participants (30 in Group A, 30 in Group B and 15 in Group C)

Classes will be held in English. Minimum attendance: 80% on site (or online for group A students).

Participiants can book their accommodation independently, taking into account that the summer school activities will take place in the following locations:

Other options:

  • Participants will be offered the following reduced fees at the Collegio Universitario Don Nicola Mazza (subject to availability) :
    • single room, 40 euros per night,
    • double room, 35 euros per person per night.

Please book through this link notifying your participation to the summer school

Applications are open and will close on April 3, 2023.

Admitted candidates will be notified by 5 May 2023 and the deadline for the tuition fee is by  15 May 2023.

Withdrawals will be accepted within 10 days of the date of the payment of the tuition fee.

Students in Group A will be provided with reading materials by  10 July 2023. End-of-course essays will be due by 30th November 2023.

Programme Group A

Programme Group B

Programme Group C

Application

VSFF

For information please write to: skene@ateneo.univr.it

 
Director: Silvia Bigliazzi
 
Scientific Committee: Chiara Battisti, Silvia Bigliazzi, Sidia Fiorato, Cristiano Ragni, Emanuel Stelzer
 
Organising Committee: Petra Bjelica, Simona Brunetti, Susan Payne, Carla Suthren, Roberta Zanoni

Staff

Chiara Battisti (Università di Verona)

Elettra Bertucco (Videomaker)

Jaq Bessell (GSA, University of Surrey)

Silvia Bigliazzi (University of Verona)

Petra Bjelica (University of Verona)

John Blondell (Westmont College and Lit Moon Theatre Company, Santa Barbara CA)

Simona Brunetti (University of Verona)

Jenny Caron Hall

Fernando Cioni (University of Florence)

Andrea Coppone (Performer)

Tania Demetriou (University of Cambridge)

Leonardo Delfanti (Freelance journalist)

Paul Edmondson (Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Stratford-upon-Avon)

 

Sidia Fiorato (University of Verona)

Jason Lawrence (University of Hull)

Charles Martindale (University of Bristol)

Susan Payne (University of Florence)

Elizabeth Prettejohn (University of York)

Cristiano Ragni (University of Verona)

Emanuel Stelzer (University of Verona)

Carla Suthren (University of Verona)

Janet Suzman

Stanley Wells (Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Stratford-upon-Avon)

Tzachi Zamir (Hebrew University of Jerusalem)

Roberta Zanoni (Università di Verona)

In collaboration with:

  • The Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham
  • Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
  • Cambridge University
  • Guildford School of Acting, University of Surrey
  • Faculty of Dramatic Arts – University of Belgrade
  • Westmont College, Santa Barbara (CA)
  • Comune di Verona – Estate teatrale
  • Fondazione “Artioli” – Mantova capitale europea dello spettacolo

With the support of:

Under the auspices of: