British humorist to be in residence at UW-Madison

One of the British humorists responsible for the comedic DNA of “Saturday Night Live,” “Absolutely Fabulous,” “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” and more will be in residence at UW–Madison Feb. 25-March 1.

Not humor, not opera, not theater, not the visual arts, nor the history of medicine have been the same since Jonathan Miller rolled through them. Beginning in 1960 with his stage satire “Beyond the Fringe,” done in collaboration with Dudley Moore, Peter Cook and Alan Bennett, Miller has provided grist for cultural foment in the shaping late 20th century.

Just as “Fringe” went beyond Scotland to London and New York, Miller took his career far beyond the confines of a single professional discipline. In a spare 40 years, Miller has achieved legendary status as a humorist, director specializing in both opera and theater, author and medical doctor — the subject he had been studying at Cambridge when he became one of the “Fringe” writers and performers.

For more than 30 years he produced series and dramas for BBC, BBC2 and independent television in Britain. His alliance with opera began in 1974 when he directed the British premiere of Alexander Goehr’s “Arden Must Die.” In the intervening years he has worked for some of the world’s leading opera houses. On the non-musical stage, Miller is renowned for his productions of Shakespeare.

Since the 1990s Miller has been lecturing, among other activities. During his stay at UW–Madison he will present five free public lectures sponsored by the Institute for Research in the Humanities:

• “Laughing Matters: Humor and Comedy.” Monday, Feb. 25, 7:30 p.m., Morgridge Auditorium, 1100 Grainger Hall. Co-sponsored with the UW–Madison Center for the Humanities and the Arts Institute.
• “Pictures in the Mind.” Tuesday, Feb. 26, 5:30 p.m., 140 Elvehjem Museum of Art. Co-sponsored with the UW–Madison departments of Art and Philosophy, and Visual Culture Studies.
• “Shakespeare and the Law.” Thursday, Feb. 28, noon, Lubar Commons, 7200 Law Building. Co-sponsored by the UW–Madison Institute for Legal Studies, and Project on Law and the Humanities.
• “Bedside Manners: Medicine and the Public.” Friday, March 1, noon, Memorial Union (check Today in the Union for exact room). Co-sponsored with the UW–Madison departments of History of Medicine and History of Science.
• “The Afterlife of Plays.” Friday, March 1, 2 p.m., Mitchell Theatre, Vilas Hall. Co-sponsored with the UW–Madison Department of Theatre and Drama.

In addition, Miller will work with students in three workshops that will welcome observers: two directing workshops (Tuesday, Feb. 26, and Thursday, Feb. 28, both at 8 a.m. in Vilas Hall’s Hemsley Theatre) and an opera workshop (Wednesday, Feb. 27, 1:15 p.m., 2411 Mosse Humanities Building). The directing workshops are co-sponsored by the Department of Theatre and Drama. The opera workshop is co-sponsored by the School of Music.

“I thought of bringing several visiting professors to the institute this year, but then it occurred to me, why not just bring Jonathan Miller?” says Sally Banes, director of the Institute for Research in the Humanities. “He immediately sprang to mind when our group of interdisciplinary scholars was talking about the range of interests we’re pursuing, from post-colonialism to the history of science, Shakespeare and visual culture, literary texts into performance, and philosophy of art. As a public intellectual and a polymath, Jonathan Miller has spoken eloquently on all those subjects, and so many more.”

For more information on Miller’s visit, contact the Institute for Research in the Humanities, (608) 262-3855.