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»Fans in the theatre? About unbeloved fannish spectators and theatre’s self-image 1860–1920«


Are there fans in the theatre, be it of individual actors and actresses, of the institution, of particular plays, or individual directors? Do fandom with its practices and the theatre have an important intersection that helps us better understand both the history of fandom and of theatre? The state of research is a timid, tentative ›yes‹ – tentative, because research has just begun to pay attention to this intersection: Fandom and the stage, Fandom Studies and Theatre Studies have seldom been related to each other. Although few in number, scholarly contributions have underlined the importance and topicality of the need to explore theatre and fans in interaction. The conference intends to contribute to this productive interdisciplinary border traffic by bringing the most distinguished scholars in this field into dialogue both with each other and with promising researchers of the younger generation.


Preliminary programme (as of 4.8.2024):

Wednesday, 23.10.2024

15:00 Coffee

16:00 Welcome address

16:30 Kirsty Sedgman (University of Bristol):
 »How Do You Solve a Problem Like Fandom?«

17:30 Clemens Räthel (Universität Greifswald):
 »Take a bow! (Royal) Copenhagen's First Female Star«


Thursday, 24.10.2024

10:00 Daniel Cavicchi (Rhode Island School of Design):
 »Devotees, Fanciers, Hunters, and Maniacs: The Onomastics of 19th-Century Enthusiasm«

11:00 Agata Łuksza  (Uniwersytet Warszawski):
 »Pirate Theatre History/History of Theatre Piracy: Reflecting on ›Theatremania‹ in the Nineteenth Century«

12:00 Lunch break

13:30 Guided tour of the Theatre Studies Collection

15:00 Aoife Monks (Queen Mary University of London):
 »Collectible Virtuosity: Fan Skills and Collecting in the work of Dion Boucicault«

16:00 Peter W. Marx (Universität zu Köln):
 »›Posteriority does not braid laurel wreaths ...‹ Fan Practices between Apotheosis and Commodification«


Friday, 25.10.2024

10:00 Alice A. Salamena (Universität zu Köln):
 »On the Continuity of Fannish Practices: Fan Letter Writing to Theatre Stars and Film Stars«

11:00 Stephan Michael Schröder (Universität zu Köln):
 »Acquiring Actors: Theatre Stars and Film Stars on Postcards«

12:00 Final discussion and wrap-up

Unfortunately, the number of participants is limited for spatial reasons. If you are interested in participating, please send us an email: stephan.schroeder@uni-koeln.de. We hope to be able to stream the presentations at the conference as well. Further information is coming soon.

conference poster

(© Marie Cronenberg)