The cultural tourism of the 18th Century is usually associated with the Grand Tour to Italy. Yet the 18th Century witnessed the rise of an alternative tour to Northern Europe, where travellers could take in the splendours of the Golden Age of Dutch and Flemish art or experience a quite different milieu to Naples or Rome.
Join Dr Harry Mount, an expert in 18th-century art criticism, for a fascinating exploration of cultural tourism to the North before the railway age. Harry is Programme Leader for History and History of Art at...
Dr Peter Elmer provides an alternative approach to understanding one of the more complex and disputed aspects of witchcraft in early modern England, namely its demise. He discusses a wealth of new material, arguing that politics, rather than scientific or intellectual advance, provides a more convincing context in which to understand the gradual erosion of belief in witchcraft and an end to witch trials in late 17th- and early 18th-century England.
Peter is a Senior Research Fellow in the Department of History at the University of Exeter.
Professor Judy Edworthy, Director of the University’s Cognition Institute, will introduce this dramatic account of Donald Crowhurst’s disastrous attempt to single-handedly circumnavigate the globe without stopping and the struggles he confronted on the journey while his family awaited his return.
Judy, an applied psychologist, will discuss the risk-taking behaviour behind the tragic turn of events, along with personal recollections of contemporary responses in Teignmouth, where Crowhurst sailed from in 1968.
Edward Clarke reads from his latest collection 'Eighteen Psalms', published by Periplum Press.
Edward is a poet and author of two books of criticism: 'The Vagabond Spirit of Poetry', and 'The Later Affluence of W.B. Yeats and Wallace Stevens'. He is an editor of the web-zine Cassandra Voices.
J. R. Carpenter will read from her debut poetry collection 'An Ocean of Static', published by Penned in the Margins and Highly Commended by the Forward Prizes in 2018. 'An Ocean of Static' transforms the dense, fragmented archive of the...
Nigel Hawthorne stars as the British monarch who seemingly became mentally disturbed during his reign and had to endure barbaric 'cures'. Based on Alan Bennett's acclaimed play, The Madness of King George takes a dark-humoured look at the mental decline of the King.
The film's story begins nearly three decades into George's reign, in 1788, as the unstable king begins to show signs of increasing dementia, from violent fits of foul language to bouts of forgetfulness. This weakness seems like the perfect chance to overthrow the unpopular George in favour of...
Following its creation on Studio Wayne McGregor's 2017 FreeSpace Program and first UK Tour, Richard Chappell Dance presents At the end we begin. The company's dynamic, compelling and first full-length work uses T.S. Eliot's classic series Four Quartets as a point of departure by representing each poem with four arresting and emotionally fuelled quartets of dance, named after each poem.
At the end we begin questions how time's circular nature affects our understanding of ourselves and inhabits the sensitive and sometimes turbulent landscape of Eliot's poetry...
From Madame de Pompadour in France, to Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire or Lady Hamilton in England, the 18th Century offers a number of iconic examples of mistresses and courtesans. Artists and writers responded eagerly to this cultural phenomenon, which saw females cast variously as ruthless social climbers or tragic heroines.
Join Dr Jenny Graham, Associate Professor in Art History at the University of Plymouth, for a lively examination of this compelling aspect of women’s history in the Age of Enlightenment. Jenny is an expert in French and British art history of the 18th and...
This season we are exploring landscapes with leading Photographer, Jem Southam, and have arranged a variety of films, talks and workshops to accompany his Exhibition: Birds, Rocks, Rivers, Islands in The Levinsky Gallery from Fri 18 Jan - Sat 16 Mar.
In Ken Loach’s iconic film, Kes, Billy Casper suffers abuse both at home and at school. At home his brother beats him, and his family neglects him. At school, most of his teachers ridicule and reject him, especially sadistic Mr Sugden. Like other downtrodden children in an outmoded social system, Billy appears headed for a menial job...
Two couples; one liberal, one conservative. One progressive, one traditional. One faithless, one faithful. Call It a Day stems from a real meeting with a traditional Amish couple in the US on a freezing snowy day in January 2009.
Greg Wohead is a writer, performer and live artist specialising in theatre performances, one-to-one pieces and audio works. His work has been seen at theatres and festivals in the UK, US and Europe and he is currently an Associate Artist at The Yard and Shoreditch Town Hall in London.
Call It a Day is co-commissioned by Theatre in the Mill, South...
Joshua and Symeon, PhD research students in the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, explore how the geology and environment of the South West coastline can interact to produce the dramatic rockfalls captured by Jem Southam.
