November 20, 1998

Loyola hosts two distinguished Biever Guest lecturers

Since its inception, the Biever Guest Lecture Series committee has been a formidable force in bringing distinguished lecturers to Loyola. Recently two such experts were on campus at the invitation of Rosary O’Neill, professor of drama and speech.

Claude Coulon, chair of American studies at the Sorbonne in Paris, gave a lecture last month titled “Louisiana Women Writers in Paris.” In his presentation, Coulon outlined the similarities in style and content between Southern female writers and their European counterparts. What interests him most about American drama, Coulon says, “is it tries to unite two opposite elements–realism and expressionism. It is very hard to find an element of drama in modern work.” Coulon explains that literary giant Tennessee Williams was very good at incorporating the two; and consequently Coulon brings much of Williams’ work to France through the theatre workshop he created in Sorbonne. Coulon also has taught in the United States, England, Africa, and Algeria.

Most recently, Christa Tagelehn spoke to drama students about her significant career and role as a woman in theatre and broadcasting in Berlin. Former director of Radio Berlin International, Tragelehn is a freelance translator of dramatic literature. She and her husband have produced and directed major works in some of Germany’s most distinguished theaters and have spearheaded the development of new plays with Hershel Publishers in Berlin. Tagelehn explained to students the process for selecting and staging plays in the highly competitive German theatre.

“In a time of declining corporate and government funding of the arts, the importance of Tagelehn’s entrepreneurial wisdom and intellectual standards can not be overemphasized,” O’Neill says.

–Angela Anthony, Assistant Director of Public Affairs