{{Unreferenced, date=October 2008The Wooden O Symposium is a cross disciplinary conference exploring Medieval, Renaissance, and Early Modern Studies, through the study and performance of the works of
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
. Scholars from many disciplines present papers that offer insights and new ideas springing from the era of William Shakespeare. His plays are replete with the language, thoughts and arts of the Renaissance and Western culture and represent an inexhaustible source for creative ideas and research.
Shakespeare Study
The symposium is hosted by
Southern Utah University
Southern Utah University (SUU) is a public university in Cedar City, Utah. Founded in 1897 as a normal school, Southern Utah University now graduates over 1,800 students each year with baccalaureate and graduate degrees from its six colleges. ...
, home of the Tony Award-winning
Utah Shakespearean Festival
The Utah Shakespeare Festival is a theatrical festival that performs works by Shakespeare as their cornerstone. The Festival is held during the summer and fall on the campus of Southern Utah University in Cedar City, Utah, United States.
Awar ...
. A major focus of the scholarly event is the interface between scholarship and performance and how the pursuit of one area can enrich and inform the other.
The Festival is noted for the Adams Memorial Theater, a beautiful open air performance space modeled after Shakespeare's own
Globe Theatre
The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, on land owned by Thomas Brend and inherited by his son, Nicholas Brend, and gra ...
This academic conference takes place every year in
Cedar City
Cedar City is the largest city in Iron County, Utah, United States. It is located south of Salt Lake City, and north of Las Vegas on Interstate 15. It is the home of Southern Utah University, the Utah Shakespeare Festival, the Utah Summer Gam ...
,
Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
and runs the first Monday through Wednesday of August.