BRISTOL, Tenn., – Kiara Pipino, assistant professor of theater at King University served as the keynote speaker at the 15th Annual University of Wisconsin Graduate Student Conference in Madison, Wisconsin.
Pipino's keynote presentation focused on "Theatre and Pietas." In her lecture, Pipino discussed how the feeling of pietas had become a recurrent theme throughout western theatre. She compared the idea of pietas in Greek tragedies to several modern plays tied together by Greek structure.
Both classical and modern and contemporary plays utilize the idea of pietas to portray one's sense of duty to the deities, country, family, and self.
"The Latin word Pietas refers to a particular feeling or mood that is very dear in the Latin world," said Pipino. "It has permeated the Western world, because it is related, in some extent, to a religious feeling. Pietas means piety, pity, compassion, dutiful behavior, religiousness. It is a broad term which can be applied to many things. It was first wildly used by the poet Roman poet Virgil when he wrote the epic "Aenied,' an epic that took place 200 years or more after the well-known "Odyssey.'"
"Theatre and Pietas" is the name of a forthcoming book by Pipino. This coming August, the play, "Washed Away," written by Pipino, will be performed in the prestigious Chicago Fringe Festival.
