Arts & Entertainment
GSU Professor Discusses Peter Pan
Dr. Rosemary Johnsen, assistant professor of English at Governors State University, will deliver a lecture sponsored by the Raven Foundation exploring the themes of the Lookingglass Theatre's original adaptation of "Peter Pan (A Play)."
The lecture will take place on Dec. 4 at 12:30 p.m. at Loyola University Museum of Art and serves as a pre-show introduction to the 2 p.m. matinee performance of the play.
In addition to her lecture, the Raven Foundation of Glenview, asked Johnsen to contribute an essay, "The Persistence of Peter Pan" for the Lookingglass Theatre's "Peter Pan" study guide.
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According to Johnsen, of Steger, "The play's surprises move us to ponder the central mysteries that Peter Pan addresses: the nature of childhood, with its special fears and desires, and the relation of our adult selves to the children we used to be. Peter Pan absorbs and beguiles us because it takes up those universals."
Johnsen's scholarship centers on her study of English and Irish literature. In addition to her first book, "Contemporary Feminist Historical Crime Fiction," published in 2006, Johnsen has published essays focusing on crime fiction, twentieth-century literature, and book history, as well as making numerous presentations and leading discussions.
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The Raven Foundation's mission is to make religion reasonable, violence unthinkable and peace a possibility by entering into the conversations taking place around war and peace, violence, identity and desire and challenging conventional wisdom in ways that open pathways to authentically peaceful communities.
Suzanne Ross, founder of the Raven Foundation, believes Johnsen's expertise in American literature and mimetic theory makes her an ideal commentator for this production of "Peter Pan."
Admission to the pre-show lecture is free. Reduced priced tickets to this Saturday's matinee performance are available through the Raven Foundation at www.ravenfoundation.org. "Peter Pan (A Play)" is running at the Lookingglass Theatre, 821 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago.
