Memory, Art, and Performance: Three Perspectives on Leopoldstadt | October 19, 2020 at 7pm, Featuring Scholarship from Leora Auslander, Christine Mehring, and David Levin
Professors Leora Auslander, Christine Mehring, and David Levin will each provide a brief lecture intersecting with their area of expertise and exploring various themes raised in Stoppard’s play. Professor Leora Auslander will provide a brief presentation on the play from the standpoint of Jewish history and studies, with a particular focus on memory and the Shoah. Professor Christine Mehring will share her insights into the subject of Viennese art and design, including the work of Gustav Klimt and the Vienna Secession movement, as a Klimt portrait plays a prominent symbolic role in Leopoldstadt. Professor David Levin will explore some of the interpretive problems posed by the play and Stoppard’s work, from his perspective as a faculty member in Theater and Performance Studies and Germanic Studies at the University of Chicago. A conversation between the trio will follow, as each of the three topics becomes the launching pad for a larger conversation about the play itself.