Conference: Theater & Community

Theater & Community: Poetics, Politics, Performances (CDE 2023)

organized by Dr. habil. Johanna Hartmann and Prof. Dr. Ilka Saal

The 31st annual conference of the German Society for Contemporary Drama in English will be held in Erfurt from 8–11 June 2023.

This year’s conference topic builds on the observation that recent political and epidemiological events, social, economic, and environmental developments, and even epistemic trends index an increasing polarization within and between nations, cultures, and people, both regionally and globally. The interdisciplinary conference “Theater & Community: Poetics, Politics, and Performances” takes these crises and the urgency to solve them as a point of departure and enquires about the role theater and drama can play in re/building consensus and negotiating common ground. In other words: In what ways can dramatic performances obtain the basic agreement on a sense of commonality and mutual interest required for social cohesion and collective action?

The conference fosters international and interdisciplinary conversations on this topic by bringing together scholars, artists, and theater practitioners from around the world. The conference’s PhD forum, moreover, fosters cross-generational dialogue between early-career and experienced researchers.

Conference website