Arts National – Is this the real life? Challenging Perception of Reality

Presented by Mary Sharp.

When Lucy ventures through the wardrobe into Narnia, when Harry Potter opens his acceptance letter, and when Neo takes the red pill from Morpheus, they all discover that the worlds they thought they knew are only part of the truth. From Plato onwards, writers and artists have been inspired to push beyond the everyday and to create other worlds that inspire our imaginations.

This lecture explores what these stories tell us about how we view our lives and what it is that we most desire. Mary is an experienced broadcaster and teacher with particular expertise in literature and drama.

She has worked as a producer and commissioning editor for BBC Radio 4, a teacher and director of sixth form at a leading girls’ grammar school and now runs her own company ‘Opening Up Literature’.

Tickets