Petition for CAMWS Affiliate Status by the "CAMWS Drama Working Group"
This petition was approved by the CAMWS Executive Committee on June 19, 2020.
We the undersigned would like to request affiliated status for our group “The CAMWS Drama Working Group.” The group has as its mission the study of all aspects of Greek and Roman theater (texts, acting,xmasks, costumes, properties, theatrical spaces, theory and criticism) and performance of Greek and Roman drama and theater in all forms including, but not limited to, tragedy, comedy, satyr play, paratragedy, mime, and pantomime. The members of the group are members of CAMWS. We understand that members of the organizing committee need to be members of CAMWS. In practice the group proposes to hold its meetings concurrent with the regular annual meeting of CAMWS and would like to have two events included on the annual program: (1.) a table-reading of a Greek or Roman play to be determined in advance of the meeting by the members of the Drama Working Group and (2.) an academic workshop or panel for the purpose of studying aspects of ancient performance, whether scripted (e.g., multiple stagings of the same scene of one play) or improvised (e.g., experimental readings of fragmentary plays or trying out costumes or props to reconstruct a mime or pantomime, etc.). The workshop or panel would be chosen through the usual process of soliciting proposals, vetting those proposals in committee, and submitting the workshop or panel to the CAMWS program committee for final vetting.The Drama Working Group is in the process of forming. At present I, Timothy Wutrich, will serve as chair. My report from the meeting recently completed at CAMWS 2020 was sent to those present at the organizational meeting and those interested who were unable to attend. The individuals whose names and e-mail addresses appear at the end of this petition constitute the CAMWS Drama Working Group at present. I have already volunteered to lead the table-reading for CAMWS 2021 which will take place in Cleveland, Ohio, my hometown, at Case Western Reserve University, the university where I teach. The play that I have chosen in Plautus’s Amphitryon. Krishni Burns has written a call for proposals for the first workshop that we plan to sponsor. A draft of that document is attached. Please note that the name “CAMWS Drama Working Group” is a working title used for thecpurpose of starting our organization. The group is in the process of discussing and choosing a permanent name which it hopes will be both descriptive and attractive. Once a permanent name has been chosen, the group will communicate that name to the Executive Committee.Finally, please note that in spring 2021 the Case Western Reserve University Department of Theater is planning to produce a completely staged ancient Greek tragedy as one of its mainstage shows to coincide with the CAMWS annual meeting. The Theater Department’s production is independent from the Drama Working Group; its production is being coordinated with the CWRU Department of Classics’s plans for the conference; and the Theater Department’s mainstage production should receive the spotlight as the main theatrical offering for CAMWS 2021.
The members of the CAMWS Drama Working Group at present include the following, listed alphabetically:
Bungard, Christopher
Burns, Krishni Schaefgen
Clevinger, Donna
Cohen, Amy R.
Cozzi, Cecilia
Groton, Anne
Groves, Robert W.
Jeppen, Seth
Jusino, Emily
Lippman, Michael
Lord, Kristin
Major, Wilfred E
Mehta, Arti
Mills, Sophie J. V.
Moore, Timothy
Pistone, Amy
Ranck, Jennifer
Rollins, Dominica
Schenker, David J.
Sienkewicz, Tom
Wutrich, Timothy (chair)