Hayley Eaves

• Region: Europe
• Time: 16th Century; 17th Century; 18th Century
• Theme: Architectural History; Early Modern Drama; History of Art and Architecture; History of Theater

Hayley Eaves studies the theory and practice of theatre and theatricality in early modern European architecture and urban space. Her dissertation attempts to recover and restore fragmented knowledge on the artistic and constructional achievement of freestanding theatres, immersive sets and illusion-driven technologies for theatre.

Prior to matriculating to Harvard, Hayley completed her B.A. and M.A. degrees in art history at McGill University. Her master’s thesis on the Tiepolo family of draftsmen, decorators, and painters introduced the theory of pastoralesque, a play on the pastoral genre in art and literature and Mikhail Bakhtin’s influential carnivalesque. Hayley characterizes representations of commedia dell’arte street performers in the countryside as pastoralesque, their presence significantly altering the natural landscape from a locus amoenus (delightful place) to a second carnival.

Hayley will be leading an undergraduate seminar on Renaissance and Baroque architectural and stage design practice for theatre during the fall. She is a Research Tutor in the Master of Design Studies Program (Narratives) and a Research Assistant for Professor Christine Smith.