Volume 15, Number 9 — September 2008
IN FOCUS: ETSU Students Enjoy
London Theatre Productions
A group of ETSU students traveled to England to participate in, "London Theatre," a summer
course. The group included, left to right:
Brittany Gillis-Williams, Jenny Barnett, Emily
Mahoney, Alliese Forsman, Dr. Judith Slagle,
and, in the background, Evan Thomas and Matt
Brewer. Not pictured is Tiffany Brown, who took
the photo.
Additional
photos below » JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. — In May 2008, Dr. Judith
Slagle, chair of East Tennessee State University's
Department of English, and seven students traveled
to England for a course entitled "London Theatre."
During the pre-summer session, they attended
performances at various theatres in the West End
area and at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, where they
took a backstage guided tour by Globe officials and
participated in arranged discussion groups.
Students lived in the International Exchange
Students' London Residence Hall in Chelsea in
southwest London and saw a variety of plays
throughout the city, including Shakespeare's King
Lear and A Midsummer Night's Dream, Joanna Baillie's
Witchcraft, Bertholt Brecht's The Good Soul of
Szechuan, and "blockbusters" such as Woman in Black,
Wicked, and The Phantom of the Opera.
There was time for sightseeing, weekend trips to
Oxford and Edinburgh, and shopping, but students
primarily visited museums, held discussions, kept
theatre journals, and submitted a major paper after
their return to Johnson City. Slagle and the
students collaborated on a review of the first
performance in more than 150 years of Baillie's
Witchcraft; that work is forthcoming in the British
Association for Romantic Studies Bulletin and
Review.
"London Theatre" will be offered again in May 2009,
and scholarship money will be available through
ETSU's Study Abroad program.
For further information, contact the ETSU English
Department office at (423) 439-4339.
A view of the interior of London's Globe Theatre
taken when the group of ETSU students attended a
performance of "A Midsummer Night's Dream."
Students Jenny Barnett and Alliese Forsman with
Westminster Abbey in the background.
Jenny Barnett enjoyed sightseeing.
Matt Brewer and Emily Mahoney enjoyed visiting
London landmarks.
