Using both a new historicist and the reception theory lens of Hans-Robert Jauss, I am exploring the historical consciousness of the audiences of particular late Elizabethan history plays, to show how far this served as a careful testing ground for contemporary public policy. Using the examples of theatrical productions and the influence of historical narrative, I explore what the theatre brings to the telling of history through its communal reception, sense of the present moment, multiplicity of voices, interpretation and dramatic intensity and why playwrights made their veiled comment so oblique.
I have an MA in Modern History from Oxford, and did my undergraduate and masters courses in English literature at Concordia, writing my MA paper on Shakespeare’s Henriad, as a lens for contemporary events.
I have a TESL Certificate qualification from Concordia and taught English as a second language in Montreal for ten years.
Currently I am a mentor for Concordia Alumni Connect.