PhD in European Theatre, University of Edinburgh (2022)
Contextualising Liveness: Digitally Distributed, Digitally Mediated and Digitally Located Performance in Edinburgh and Berlin, 2017-19
Funded by the Wolfson Foundation
My thesis argues that liveness is culturally and contextually contingent, and uses case studies from Edinburgh and Berlin to reveal how liveness is created, valued and marketed differently in two Western European capital cities with considerably different theatre industries.
The thesis develops three key terms - digital distribution, digital mediation and digital location - in order to challenge established definitions of liveness within theatre studies and the theatre industry, and to explore how liveness in performance relates to liveness in the broader context of digital media. My research also captures an evolving relationship between theatres and digital technologies prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, providing vital context for the unprecedented digital experimentation that followed.
I welcome questions on my research, and would be glad to provide a full copy of my thesis on request.
Degrees
MSc Comparative Literature, University of Edinburgh (2015). Awarded with distinction.
BA jt hons English Literature and German, University of Nottingham (2013). First class.
Publications
‘Limited Editions: Politics of Liveness at the Berliner Theatertreffen, 2017-19’ in The Edinburgh German Yearbook: Politics and Culture in Germany and Austria Today, eds. Frauke Matthes, Dora Osborne, Katya Krylova and Myrto Aspioti (London: Camden House, 2021).
Papers, Talks and Roundtables, Lectures, Research Fellowships
Panellist: ‘The Future of Puppetry’ for Puppet Animation Scotland. The Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, October 2022.
Lecture: ‘360˚ Digital Universes: Storytelling in K-Pop Marketing’ at ESPC Business School, MA Creative Marketing. London, May 2022.
Roundtable: ‘Digital Theatre, Digital Audience’, Centrum Experimentálního Divadla. Brno, May 2022.
Seminar: ‘Liveness in Digital Theatre’, Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts. Online, February 2022.
Research Fellow: ‘Automating the Audience’ at the Academy for Theatre and Digitality. Dortmund, September 2021 - January 2022. (see more in Projects)
Paper: ‘Humanoid Performance in Rimini Protokoll’s Uncanny Valley and Holly Herndon’s Spawn’, Performance and New Technologies at TaPRA. Exeter, September 2019.
Paper: ‘Feeling, Feelingly: Digitally Mediated Experiences of Isolation and Intimacy at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe’, Theatre and Intermediality at IFTR. Shanghai, July 2019.
Roundtable: ‘The Politics of the Cultural Market’, The Politics of Contemporary German Culture. St Andrews, April 2019.
Paper: ‘Digitally Distributing Liveness: Three Case Studies from the Berliner Theatertreffen’, University of Edinburgh, German Department Research Seminar. Edinburgh, November 2017.
Paper: ‘“Das hat Brecht nicht verdient”: Frank Castorf’s Baal as an Act of Vandalism’, International Brecht Symposium. Oxford, June 2016.