Faculty present at Meaning of Food Conference

Assistant Professors Charles Johnson (designer), Susanne Shawyer (dramaturg) and Kim Shively (director) from the Department of Performing Arts presented their research and creative work from the Winter Term production of “Moment” at the Meaning of Food Conference in Greensboro, North Carolina on Tuesday, March 27.

Together with colleagues from all over the United States, the UK and Japan, Johnson, Shawyer and Shively examined food as scholarship in the liberal arts. In Quiche as Character: A Case-study of Food in Theatrical Performance, the creative team from Elon shared the theater theory and history that comprised their research in preparing for “Moment,” a darkly comic, domestic play about a family reuniting for a formal Tea by Irish playwright Dierdre Kinahan. 

The team also shared photos from the university’s production along with reflections of how they integrated their research into practice through rehearsal and production and the lessons learned.

Shawyer and Shively will present on “Moment” at the Association of Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) in Boston this summer. Johnson’s design can be seen next in the Elon stage production of “American Idiot” in the Roberts Studio Theatre in April. 

The Meaning of Food Conference was planned by an interdisciplinary team that included Nina Namaste, associate professor of Spanish.