The Society for Theatre Research: Annual Lecture Series

The Society for Theatre Research Lecture Series has been running since 1952 and continues to showcase leading research and practice in the field of British performance.

The next Lecture in the series is The Migrant’s Tale: Voices of the Dispossessed on 19th February 2025.

The Migrant’s Tale: Voices of the Dispossessed by Dr. Valerie Kaneko-Lucas
19th February 2025
7:30pm
St Anne’s Soho/online

Abstract:
In September 2015, the photo of Aylan Kurdi was published in newspapers across the UK and abroad. The image of this drowned Syrian-Kurdish boy, washed upon on a Turkish beach, triggered a petition to Parliament to accept more refugees. Yet, in the intervening years, anti-immigrant discourse has profoundly risen. This talk will consider how theatre addresses the dehumanising representation of migrants as a sub-human swarm, threatening the stability of European society.

I will consider how plays such as Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson’s The Jungle (2018) shows the resilience of those who, having lost all, try to rebuild a form of civil society. In contrast, Red Demon (2003) and more recent works consider the fates of migrants in a new land.

Ten years later, at a crucial time in our national debates on migration, might theatre’s emotional connection, as Anders Lustgarten argues, still spark challenge, debate and the possibility of change?

The Speaker:

Dr. Valerie Kaneko Lucas is Quality, Standards and Academic Enhancement Manager at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). As a scholar and practitioner, she is engaged in developing decolonial practice and education. Current research addresses the questions of theatre as a means for social change, particularly within the post-Empire diaspora and its contemporary theatre and performance. Her articles on Black British and British Asian performance have appeared in Black British Aesthetics, Reconstructing Hybridity, Hidden Gems: Contemporary Black British Plays and Alternatives Within the Mainstream: British Black and Asian Theatres.

All are lectures are free and you don’t have to be a member, but it is essential to book to let us know you will either be coming in person or watching via the livestream – please book your ticket on our website www.str.org.uk

BOOKINGS:

Please book an in-person ticket here: https://www.str.org.uk/product/an-event-online/

Please book an online ticket here: https://www.str.org.uk/product/the-migrants-tale-voices-of-the-dispossessed-online-bookings/

Venue & Transport Information:

Venue:

St. Anne’s Church, 55 Dean St., London W1D 6AF
The Allen Room is located on the first floor of St Anne’s Church, and is accessible via a lift or stairs.
Nearest London Underground stations: Piccadilly Circus, Leiceister Square, Tottenham Court Road.