Thesis title:
The Circulation of Cultural Memory Through the Recycling of Stage Properties and Apparel in British Drama: 1580-1642
My research examines the significance of the materials of the stage in British drama produced between 1580 and 1642. It investigates the ways in which costumes, properties, and scenery were reused and reinterpreted in different contexts, and the degree to which early modern drama relied on an active cultural memory for its audiences to engage with the prominent visual citations that communicate meaning. To what extent, I ask throughout my thesis, did playmakers utilise this complex process of cultural memory to produce and redistribute ideas through modes of non-verbal discourse?
Research Area
Conferences
2020:
- Chair of the Twenty-Second Annual British Graduate Shakespeare Conference (BritGrad Festival), The Shakespeare Institute, Stratford-upon Avon
- 'Company in-jokes: Will Kempe and his Ass's Burden', the Twenty-Second Annual British Graduate Shakespeare Conference (BritGrad Festival), The Shakespeare Institute, Online
2019:
2018:
- 'The Circulation of Cultural Memory through the Recycling and Imitation of Costumes and Properties on the Renaissance Stage', London Shakespeare Centre and Shakespeare's Globe Inaugural Graduate Conference
- '"Action, Passion, Motion": Rethinking the Red Bull and its "Bad" Reputation', Space, Place, and Interface: CEMS, Exeter
- 'Objects, Bodies, and the Actor-Statue in British Drama: 1580-1642', the Twentieth Annual British Graduate Shakespeare Conference, The Shakespeare Institute, Stratford-upon-Avon
2017:
- '"How many children hast thou, widow?": Shakespeare's Widowed Mothers, Notions of Queenship, and Early Modern Constructions of Femininity', the Nineteenth Annual British Graduate Shakespeare Conference, The Shakespeare Institute, Stratford-upon-Avon
Public Engagement & Impact
2020 - Ongoing:
- Head of Operations and Academic Consultant for 'Reading Early Plays' (REP). We are an online play-reading and research group, currently reading the repertory of the King's Men in chronological order and working on casting for the original performances. All are welcome to join, whether that be to read a role, listen in, and/or participate in the discussions. More details at www.readingearlyplays.com.
October 2020:
- 'Reading Early Plays' (REP) presentation on the biographies and professional careers of the King's Men actors, Richard Robinson and George Birch.
August 2020:
- 'Reading Early Plays' (REP) presentation on the Lord Chamberlain's Men apprentices, Christopher Beeston and 'Saunder'.
July 2020:
- 'Reading Early Plays' (REP) presentation on the biographies and professional careers of the Lord Chamberlain's/King's Men actors, Thomas Pope and Richard Cowley.
2019:
Other Research Interests
- Intertheatricality
- Stagecraft
- Material culture
- Visual culture
- Embodied memory
- Repertorial practices
- Company personnel
More widely, I am interested in the development of the repertory system from the rise of commercial playing in the 1590s, and with exploring this in relation to inter/intra-theatricality and memory. Alongside my PhD, I am currently, with REP collaborators, working on the individual biographies of those involved in playmaking and on their familial and community networks.
Memberships
- Malone Society
- Society for Renaissance Studies (SRS)
- British Shakespeare Association (BSA)
- Shakespeare Association of America (SAA)
Academic Positions
2021:
- Postgraduate Teaching Associate for Shakespeare's Plays and Poems B, The Shakespeare Institute, Stratford-upon-Avon
2019:
- Postgraduate Teaching Associate for Shakespeare and Early Modern Playhouse Culture, The Shakespeare Institute, Stratford-upon-Avon
Prizes
2019:
- Postgraduate bursary, British Shakespeare Association
