Patrick O'Donnell - Soul Image: Explaining Sir Tyrone Guthrie's Fascination with Shakespeare's "Hamlet"

Abstract:

Sir Tyrone Guthrie, founder of the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, had a personal psychological fascination with Shakespeare's play "Hamlet." He directed it five times in his long career as a stage director and it was the inaugural production in May, 1963, for the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. Guthrie’s investment in the play had deeper roots than its cultural prestige: the prince Hamlet was in some sense a haunted and haunting image of his own identity as a rebellious, non-conformist stage director.

Presenter Bio:

Originally from Dublin, Ireland, Patrick O’Donnell has been living in Minnesota since 1994. He joined the Normandale English Department in 1999. He is currently working on his doctoral thesis at University College Dublin. It is titled: ‘The Irish roots of the Guthrie Theatre’ and it explores various biographical and historical contexts of Sir Tyrone Guthrie, the founder of that theatre from 1959- 1963, and Joe Dowling, who orchestrated its re-invention from 1998-2006.

Related Links:

Sir Tyrone Guthrie

Guthrie Theater

Michael Bielmeier - Philosophy for Poets: Hamlet According to Kierkegaard

Abstract:

No writer in the Western World has so fascinated scholars and the public alike as has Shakespeare, nor any of his works so much as Hamlet. Certainly such was the case for the Danish philosopher/theologian/satirist Soren Kierkegaard. In his pseudonymous writings, Kierkegaard makes various references to Shakespeare’s characters, not the least of whom is Hamlet. This presentation will briefly explore the connection between Kierkegaard and Hamlet by looking at Kierkegaard’s concept of the three existential modalities, or ways of living: the aesthetic, the ethical, and the religious (spiritual). By using Kierkegaard’s existential notions as an analytic framework, we are provided with a remarkable insight into the sometimes mystifying behaviors of the melancholic Prince of Denmark.

Presenter Bio:

Dr. Michael Bielmeier has taught in the English Dept. at Normandale since 2005. Previous to this, Dr. Bielmeier taught at Columbus State Community College and Franklin University in Ohio, and prior to that he was many years at Silver Lake College in Manitowoc, WI, where he served as Chair of the English Dept. He received his undergraduate degree in English from St. Norbert College, his M.A. in English from Arizona State University, and his Ph.D. from Marquette University, where his English emphasis was Renaissance drama and philosophy. Dr. Bielmeier has presented papers at numerous academic conferences on the subject of Shakespeare and philosophy, and he has had articles published on this topic in scholarly journals. In 1999, Dr. Bielmeier received a post-doctoral fellowship from the International Kierkegaard Society, and in 2000, Mellen Press published his book length study Shakespeare, Kierkegaard, and Existential Tragedy.

Related Links:

Hamlet (Provided by MIT)

Kierkegaard (Provided by Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)