Professor David Peimer
Chaplin, Part 2: Global Icon, Comic Genius, Outsider
Summary
Chaplin wrote that “tragedy stimulates the spirit of ridicule; because ridicule, I suppose, is an attitude of defiance: we must laugh in the face of our helplessness against the forces of nature — or go insane.” Of his character the Little Tramp, Chaplin said “no matter how well the jackals succeed in tearing the little tramp apart, he’s still a man of dignity” and “gives as good as he gets” to figures of authority. In this talk, David Peimer takes a look at Chaplin, the iconic outsider, and shares some film clips to help understand his comic brilliance.
Professor David Peimer
David Peimer is a professor of theatre and performance studies in the UK. He has taught at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, and New York University (Global Division), and was a Fulbright Scholar at Columbia University. Born in South Africa, David has won numerous awards for playwriting and directing. He has written eleven plays and directed forty in places like South Africa, New York, Brussels, London, Berlin, Zulu Kingdom, Athens, and more. His writing has been published widely and he is the editor of Armed Response: Plays from South Africa (2009) and the interactive digital book Theatre in the Camps (2012). He is on the board of the Pinter Centre in London.