John O. Waller Lectureship on the Arts

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The John O. Waller Lectureship on the Arts (2022) will feature Louise Geddes, professor of English at Adelphi University, on the topic "How the Musical Became Meta." Geddes' career as a dramaturg for off-Broadway’s Rattlestick Theater is influential on her research on Shakespeare in performance, and she has published extensively about staging Shakespeare in such journals as Shakespeare Bulletin and Medieval and Renaissance Drama in England. Her first book, "Appropriating Shakespeare: A Cultural History of Pyramus and Thisbe," tracks the stage history of the "A Midsummer Night’s Dream" playlet from 17th century Germany to the contemporary stage. Her current research projects include the formal aesthetics of camp on the contemporary stage and a book-length project titled “How the Musical Became Meta.”

The John O. Waller Lectureship on the Arts is sponsored by the English department in honor of late professor John O. Waller. Waller, a very notable and influential Adventist English professor, was a member of the Department of English from 1960 to 1987 and chair from 1963 to 1979. Waller was a specialist in the Victorian period and his book, "A Circle of Friends: The Tennysons and the Lushingtons of Park House," was published by Ohio State University Press in 1986.

The John O. Waller Lectureship on the Arts is the first event of Andrews Research Week 2022.