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When Julie Taymor appeared on campus
in December 1997, Roger Copeland moderated a question-and-answer
session with the director. PHOTOGRAPH
BY JOHN SEYFRIED
Direct from the Wexner Center: Copeland on Taymor, Thursday
Julie Taymor, Working without Limits
NOVEMBER 15, 1999--Roger Copeland, professor of theater, will deliver a lecture--"From Indonesia to The Lion King: Julie Taymor's Odyssey"--about a 1974 Oberlin graduate Thursday, November 18, at 8:00 P.M. in King 306.
Julie Taymor 'is known for her Broadway adaptation of Disney's The Lion King. But long before she had ventured into the commercial theater, Taymor was one of this country's leading avant-garde theater directors and, says Copeland, "one of the few Americans whose work can profitably be compared with that of Peter Brook, Ariane Mnouchkine, or Georgio Strehler.
"Taymor is especially renowned for the way she draws upon and synthesizes a remarkable array of theatrical conventions from all over the world: Javanese shadow puppetry, Japanese Bunraku, Brazilian carnival masks, and the choreographic influence of Butoh. But unlike so many contemporary artists who mindlessly mix multicultural conventions into a fashionable but undifferentiated stew, Taymor explores the deep cultural context of her sources and then synthesizes them into something utterly distinctive."
Copeland will illustrate his lecture with video clips from Taymor's productions of The Lion King, Juan Darien, Oedipus Rex, The Tempest, andFool's Fire. The lecture will be a version of the one Copeland delivered at the Wexner Center October 27.
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