Congratulations to Professor Sally Shuttleworth, whose forthcoming project, Contagion Cabaret for Covid, has secured a social sciences award.
Humanities and medical researchers are collaborating with Chipping Norton Theatre and the Oxford Spires Academy to produce a theatrical film of drama, discussion, and disease for the COVID-19 era. Based on the successful Contagion Cabaret, which originally toured to venues including the British Academy and the Science Museum in 2017/18, this imaginative, fast-paced performance will engage teenagers and adults with historical perspectives on responses to pandemics and the contemporary dimensions of the challenges raised.
‘Interweaving songs, scenes from plays, and short extracts from newspapers, the production will explore the social history of contagion while responding sensitively to the current crisis’, explains Sally. ‘We will again draw on medical researchers, who are now working in the front line of COVID-19 defence, to give short talks on the medical and social issues we are confronting, while humanities researchers will offer historical perspectives on responses to pandemics.’
The film, which will be launched on June 18 as part of TORCH’s Big Tent cultural programme, will be followed on June 19 by a global live-streamed discussion with the director and academic speakers. The project will also create accompanying educational resources for use in schools, and will work with Oxford Spires Academy on creative responses to the Cabaret.
Find out more about the project, and how you can watch it, here.