Lockdown Lecture #3
Creativity Behind the Barbed Wire During WWI: Theatre Performances at Stobs Camp

Delivered by Anne Schwan, Professor in English, School of Arts and Creative Industries, Edinburgh Napier University.

Introduction
This talk gives an insight into the social and creative life at Stobs, with a particular focus on the camp’s drama societies. The presentation uses camp newspaper Stobsiade, which frequently reported on the theatre performances, as a source of information, alongside some other historical sources, such as event programmes that were put together and circulated among the audience. The talk considers cross-dressing as one of the striking features of theatre in internment camps. It also discusses a series of performances, based on a comedy evening at Stobs in January 1917, which was produced in 2018 by a team at Edinburgh Napier University (in collaboration with Aston University and funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council AHRC). You will be able to view a short clip from the performances as part of this presentation.