Journalist and broadcaster Samira Ahmed hosts a compelling series of conversations exploring how arts and culture are responding to urgent global challenges.
This event brings together leading acclaimed actor Toby Jones (Detectorists, Mr Bates vs the Post Office), Olivier Award-winning actor and Artistic Director at the Globe Michelle Terry, playwright Amy Ng (Shanghai Dolls, Kiln Theatre; Miss Julie, Storyhouse Chester) and University of Oxford English Professor Emma Smith, to explore how classical theatre and story continue to evolve across contemporary stage and screen. From Shakespeare to modern day TV and film, the conversation will examine how performers, practitioners and productions reimagine traditional narratives for modern audiences, balancing legacy and convention with bold innovations in performance, direction and storytelling — to examine who gets to inhabit these stories today.
From casting and character to adaptation and staging, the discussion will look at how classic works are being reimagined for today’s changing audiences — asking how these stories both reflect and challenge societal attitudes and continue to speak powerfully to the pressing questions of our time.
Samira brings her award-winning documentary experience and insight to two further events in the Schwarzman Centre Conversations series:
AI, Creativity and Ethics
Samira will be joined by Refik Anadol, Holly Herndon, Professor Raphaël Millière from the Institute for Ethics in AI and Dr Kathryn Eccles (Oxford Internet Institute), to explore how AI is transforming creative practice. Together, they will explore how artists are working with AI and consider the wider questions these technologies raise around creativity, ethics, and ownership.
Music, Democracy and Resistance
From protest songs to revolutionary anthems, music has long played a vital role in democratic movements and resistance. Samira is joined by acclaimed jazz saxophonist and MC Soweto Kinch, DJ, composer and broadcaster Tash LC, University of Oxford’s Professor Nomi Dave, and other guests to explore how music has shaped, and been shaped by, struggles for freedom and justice across continents and styles.
