An historian who uses actors to re-enact arrests, run-ins with the law, and even riots in early modern England is the latest speaker in the Engine Room Lecture Series at the Hive.
Dr Lucy Clarke will present her free lecture, A Justice of the Peace walks into a bar, at The Hive on Wednesday May 27.
Instead of focussing only on written records, Dr Clarke’s research brings history to life through practice-as-research, using actors to stage encounters documented in the records of the Court of Star Chamber, a court that dealt with cases of alleged disobedience to authority in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
“When you reconstruct how arrests or riots really worked in practice, you see that state power was far less secure than we often assume,” said Dr Clarke.
The lecture is aimed at anyone with an interest in history, politics or the law, as well as anyone curious about how the past connects to present-day issues.
“This kind of research isn’t about perfectly recreating the past,” Dr Clarke added. “It’s about asking questions in a way nobody else has asked them before, and that’s what history is really about.”
The lecture is part of the popular Engine Room Lecture Series from the University of Worcester’s Institute of Arts and Humanities; bringing people at the forefront of their fields to the public to share expertise that combines different disciplines.
Dr Lucy Arnold, Co-ordinator of The Engine Room Series, said: “Dr Clarke’s research challenges mainstream understandings of how it might be possible to do history in an extremely exciting way.”
She added: “I’m delighted that we’re able to bring her dynamic and illuminating research and practice to our diverse community of thinkers, learners and scholars at Worcester, a city with its own rich and complex history of grapples with state power.”
Dr Mark Flisher, Head of the Institute of Arts and Humanities, said: “The Institute prides itself on producing high quality research that pushes at disciplinary margins and has real-life impact on the community of Worcester, and Worcestershire more widely; the Engine Room Lecture Series is an excellent example of this.”
“We’ve invited prominent researchers from across the country to discuss how their work sits at the intersections of sociology, history, textiles, book making and more,” he added. “What has been wonderful to see though is how well the Engine Room has been supported by our local community.”
Tickets are free, but booking in advance is advised. You can book your tickets on The Hive website.