Department of English, Theatre, Film & Media

Rhinoceros

By Eugène Ionesco. Translated by Martin Crimp. Directed by Dr. Bill Kerr.

NOVEMBER 29-DECEMBER 2, 2023
John J. Conklin Theatre, Gail Asper Performing Arts Hall, 3rd floor Tache Arts Complex, 150 Dafoe Road
Nightly at 7:30 p.m.
Additional 2:00 p.m. performance on Dec 2

Eugene Ionesco watched the people around him becoming Nazis which inspired this work in which Berenger watches everyone he knows transform into Rhinoceroses. Reason itself becomes both bizarre and hilarious as everyone’s energy is spent dancing on the head of a pin rather than confronting the monstrosity in front of them. Since the seductive allure of brutish unreason has made a resurgence in many places and manifests in movements like MAGA, Q-Anon, the strangest of microchip Anti-Vax conspiracies, and the Freedom Convoy, it seems very appropriate to revisit this play. Its absurdities seem all too connected to an underlying truth.

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A Bout of Time: Decolonization and Futurity in Indigenous Speculative Fiction

By Nicole Burns, candidate for the degree of Master of Arts in English

Wednesday, December 6, 2023
2:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Online via Zoom

Examining committee:
Dr. David Watt, Chair, English, Theatre, Film & Media
Dr. Warren Cariou, Advisor, English, Theatre, Film & Media
Dr. Hee-Jung Serenity Joo, English, Theatre, Film & Media
Dr. Jocelyn Thorpe, Women's and Gender Studies, History

Interested members of the academic community and the general public are invited to attend. Contact Anita.King@umanitoba.ca for Zoom information.

Everything In Its Place: Useful and beautiful objects from the collection of Dalnavert Museum

On now!
Visitors’ Centre, Dalnavert Museum, 61 Carlton St.
Digital exhibition available online
FREE

"Everything In Its Place" is an exhibition co-curated by students from Dr. Vanessa Warne’s ENGL 4630/7930 Literature and the Museum course. This exhibition explores the place of useful and beautiful objects in nineteenth-century middle-class homes. Highlighting the role of material culture in the daily lives of servants as well as their employers, “Everything In Its Place” is an invitation to look closely at objects that are both everyday and extravagant, familiar and peculiar.

Check it out for free in the Dalnavert Visitors’ Centre and explore the digital extension on Dalnavert’s website. 

Cancel culture: YouTube videos on ‘getting cancelled’ are now their own genre and have links to the past

Dr. Erin Keating and Master's student Jessie Krahn
April 24, 2023
The Conversation Canada

What do YouTuber influencer videos about being 'cancelled' share with 17th-century texts? Both were crafted directly in response to audiences in new social spaces.

Read the full article

Certain Concealments: Poe, Hawthorne, and Early Nineteeth Century Abortion

By Dr. Dana Medoro

Congratulations to Dr. Dana Medoro on the publication of her latest book.

Antebellum America saw a great upsurge in abortion, driven in part by the rise of the pharmaceutical industry. Unsurprisingly, the practice became increasingly visible in the popular culture and literature of the era, appearing openly in advertisements, popular fiction, and newspaper reports. The author demonstrates that the work of Poe and Hawthorne can be usefully read in the context of debates on fetal life and personhood that circulated in the era.

Buy the book

Spinning You Home

Written by Sally Stubbs. Directed by Stefanie De Leon.

October 24 - 12:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
October 25 - 7:30 p.m.
John. J. Conklin Theatre, Gail Asper Performing Arts Hall, 3rd floor Taché Arts Centre

FREE admission

Alone at Grampa’s grave, thirteen-year-old Sarah finds herself dedicating a eulogy to him. Grampa always used to tell the best stories, stories that transcend life. The pair take on the scintillating story of John “Cariboo” Cameron and Sophia Groves. Through their eyes, they witness the Gold, Gold, Gold of Canada’s Gold Rush, the slippery slopes of the Cariboo Mountains and the boat that sails across the Horn to Glengarry County, Ontario. A tale of love, loss and rum, this play will leave you spinning your own story.

This is a student production. 

Renee

Written and directed by Ryan Osodo.

October 31 - 12:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
November 1 - 7:30 p.m.
John. J. Conklin Theatre, Gail Asper Performing Arts Hall, 3rd floor Taché Arts Centre

FREE admission

Manny, Kane and Renee, childhood friends, navigate the world of adulthood and what that means for each of them. Manny, a struggling artist, leaves everything behind to chase his acting career while trying to manage his relationship with Renee and the pressure his career choices puts on the relationship. Can they move forward together, or will some people be left behind? In the pursuit of goals, desires, and forgotten dreams, who will succeed? Can they fight against the entropy that is consuming their relationships? A journey about perseverance and the weight of ambitions that have been ignored. Who will be left standing?

This is a student production.