Eliza Gardiner
The Arts and Humanities Colloquium series returns this September 19, from 10 am to 11:30 am, in Malaspina Theatre!
Eliza Gardiner, Professor of Theatre, presents her recent research in a lecture entitled, “Theatre and Criminological Theory, an interdisciplinary study of Antigone."
To open the discussion, Gardiner begins with a seemingly simple question: why do people commit crimes? She seeks answers by discussing the creative combination of criminological theory that functions alongside participatory theatre in her interdisciplinary course offered at VIU; in this seminar (INTR 104), “this fusion of curricula offers explanations for criminal behavior alongside applied theatre techniques for criminal behavior alongside applied theatre techniques. We explore psychosocial theories that explain anti-social and deviant behavior and link them to performance-related activities in order to consider the underlying causes of crime.”
Leaning on her decades-long scholarship in ancient Greek tragedy, Gardiner uses the fifth-century play Antigone as a case study to explore and demonstrate these questions and ideas. Antigone tells the story of the protagonist princess, who chooses to honour her brother, Polynices, by giving him an appropriate burial despite having been ordered by Creon, the ruler of Thebes, to leave the body as a form of dishonour and punishment. It is a story of love, family, and confrontations with social, political, and judicial power. Examining the play, its characters, and plot, Gardiner observes, “provides us the chance to use theatre as a vehicle to inspire dialogue about factors that influence behaviour, prevention strategies, and treatments.”
Gardiner hopes that her audience will not only leave the lecture on Friday with a deeper understanding and appreciation for a classic play of the Greek tradition, but also a more nuanced and perhaps empathetic understanding of the nature of criminality and its causes and effects. As she writes, “After having the opportunity to analyze the actions of tragic heroines according to criminological theory, we can understand more about contemporary offences - especially those relative to civil disobedience, justifiable rebellion, and violations against the social construct...crimes of conscience.” In a world where discussion on such topics seems to be declining, it may be exactly what we all need to spend a morning remembering that humans have struggled with these questions for millennia, and we find a few answers for our modern concerns in the theatre of antiquity.
We hope you will join us on September 19, from 10 am to 11:30 am, in VIU’s Malaspina Theatre (bldg. 310). Coffee, tea, pastries, and conversation to follow in the Theatre lobby. The event is free for anyone to attend; no tickets are required.
The Colloquium Series is supported by the Acting Dean of Arts and Humanities, Dr. Katherine Rollwagen. If you have any questions or suggestions on this or future Colloquium presentations, please write to me, Bryn Skibo, Chair of the Colloquium Committee, at Bryn.Skibo@viu.ca.
