Medical University of Warsaw cordially invites to the next Open Fulbright Lecture, which will take place January 17, at 5.30 pm in room no. 8 of MUW's Main Library (63, Żwirki i Wigury St.). A guest speaker will be Rachel Moss, who will give a lecture entitled ”From Dybbuk to Skrzypek: A brief history of Jewishness in Polish performance”.
From the interwar period onwards, Jewish cultural material and production has been part of the bustling theatrical scene in Poland, whether performed independently, in partnership, or through modes of translation and cultural transmission from Polish to Jewish spheres, and vice-versa. Throughout that time, Jewish material and performed Jewishness has been one means of exploring both ongoing and new conversations about the world beyond the theatre. This talk will highlight several critically acclaimed - and commercially successful - performances from the past century alongside their significance within changing political and cultural contexts.
Rachel Merrill Moss is a doctoral candidate in the Interdisciplinary PhD in Theatre and Drama at Northwestern University and a 2018-2019 Fulbright grantee to Poland. In her dissertation, Chosen Peoples: Performances of Jewishness in Poland, 1918-2018, Rachel examines stage and public performances in Poland, specifically exploring shifting representations of Jewishness in conversation with changing national politics and culture. She has presented work at the American Society for Theatre Research, Association for Theatre in Higher Education, ASEEES, BASEES, and the Polish-Jewish Studies Working Group and been published in the Journal of American Drama and Theatre. With Debra Caplan, Rachel is co-editor of the forthcoming collection, The Dybbuk Century: The Jewish Play that Possessed the World.
The Open Fulbright Lecture Series will resume in the summer semester on Friday, February 21 at 5:00 p.m., room 23, Main Library.