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For years, Eric Bronson, a professor in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, has used stories to help students explore questions of meaning, identity and belonging. Now he is taking that approach to an unexpected new venue.

Earlier this year, Bronson was in his basement doing something he had never done before: memorizing lines for his first one-person show, The Last Hornblower, which debuted at the Hamilton Fringe Festival this month.

Written and performed by Bronson, the show reflects his career specializing in existentialism, world religions, literature and philosophy by pairing the Norse mythological story of Ragnarok – a final battle in which the gods knowingly march toward their fate – with a contemporary story about a pilot living with Alzheimer disease.

By linking modern and ancient narratives, Bronson wants audiences to see themselves as part of a much longer human story.

"It's important to feel your roots and to feel that you're connected, not just to your parents or your background, but to stories stretching back thousands of years, with themes we're still drawn to today – whether we recognize it or not," says Bronson.

Helping people discover those connections is also central to Bronson's work as an educator in 91��ɫ's Department of Humanities.

Among his courses are “Gods and Humans,” which examines interactions between gods and humans in literature, art and philosophy, and “The Modern Age: Shapers & Definers,” which explores influential figures who defined modern artistic and intellectual traditions.

Both draw on stories, beliefs and ideas from different eras, cultures and religious traditions – but rather than treating them as historical artifacts or texts belonging to someone else's belief system, Bronson encourages learners to look for relevance to contemporary life, and to their own lives.

One way he does this is by pairing ancient texts with modern examples from popular culture to illustrate how older works continue to inform the art, narratives and ideas that resonate today.

A discussion of movement and dance in a Hindu scripture, for instance, might lead to a contemporary film, documentary or other example of dance in modern culture, allowing students to consider how similar ideas continue to surface in contemporary life.

"The scripture might be 2,000 years old. That's not changing," says Bronson. "But what's changing is the ways that we see it today."

Those moments when "a light goes on" are among Bronson's favourites. A student who may have had little exposure to a particular religion, philosopher or cultural tradition suddenly recognizes something familiar in an ancient story and, in turn, sees themselves reflected in it.

For Bronson, those realizations can be transformative.

"When they see that their interests or their experiences are connected to something larger, longer, more longstanding, it adds a kind of dignity to it," says Bronson.

It was those moments of recognition that unexpectedly led Bronson toward theatre.

During a visit to the Hamilton Fringe Festival last year, he attended several storytelling-based performances and recognized something familiar: people gathering around stories, wrestling with big ideas and discovering meanings they might not have arrived at on their own.

The experience got him thinking about how those kinds of conversations might take place outside the University and how theatre could provide a space for them.

“That's often what we do in academia – make those connections for students,” says Bronson. “But there are people who aren't going to university, or who have been out of university, or just haven't had that experience.”

Through The Last Hornblower, Bronson hopes audiences encounter something similar to the moments he values most in the classroom: recognizing that ideas they may have thought belonged only to philosophers, religious traditions or ancient myths are also present in their own lives.

More than anything, he hopes they leave with a renewed sense of where they fit within the larger human story.

“We all appreciate that in art. We all look to art for that,” says Bronson. “And when it happens, we come back to our everyday world, if not elevated, at least slightly changed.”

runs at the Hamilton Fringe Festival until July 26.

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