The Imaginary Invalid: Health, Illness, and Narrative
November 2-3, 2012
In conjunction with PlayMakers Repertory Company
Our fruitful collaboration with PlayMakers Repertory Company continues with this seminar set around the adaptation of Molière’s Imaginary Invalid, one of the best plays ever written about illness, or indeed about life and death. First performed in 1673, the play pokes fun at the presumptions of doctors and the gullibility of patients who will try anything to cure their imagined ills. In this modern adaptation, PlayMakers takes on the modern healthcare industry and renews this timeless classic. Our scholars enhance the experience of seeing the play, which you can see in conjunction with this seminar on Friday evening.
Professor Jade Bettin of Dramatic Art traces the historical conventions of costuming comedies to illuminate the designs seen onstage during the time of Moliere’s productions. Dr. Terrence Holt from Social Medicine examines narrative in medicine and reflects on how it creates expectations about the power of medicine and doctors’ ability to heal.
Topics and Speakers
Conveying Comedy through Costume
Jade Bettin, Assistant Professor of Dramatic Art
The Purging of Fantasy: Dr. Comedy’s prescription
Thomas A. Stumpf, Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature Emeritus
Narrative as Illness
Terrence Holt, Assistant Professor of Social Medicine and Medicine, Division of Geriatric Medicine
Comedy, Illness, and Narrative
A panel discussion with our speakers
Time and Cost
4:30 p.m. Friday, November 2, through 1:00 p.m. Saturday, November 3, 2012. The tuition is $125 ($110 by September 13). Tuition for teachers is $62.50 ($55 by September 13). 10 contact hours for 1 unit of renewal credit. The optional dinner on Friday evening is $20.00. The optional play ticket for Friday evening’s performance is $25.00.
FOR TEACHERS
Thanks to the generosity of the PlayMakers Repertory Company, complimentary tickets to Imaginary Invalid, on Friday, November 2 are available to you on a first-come, first-served basis. You must be a currently-employed, full-time, public or private school K-12 teacher or community college instructor. The complimentary tickets must be ordered through the Humanities Program. PlayMakers Repertory Company is committed to the integration of arts in education, and to offering educators resources to make theater a part of a diverse and creative curriculum. For more information about the plays, please visit PlayMakers website or call 919.962.2491.
For information about lodging click here.
Co-Sponsored by the General Alumni Association.
For information about GAA discounts and other scholarships available to Humanities Program participants, click here.