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Lucy Holehouse

Languages and Literature, University of Birmingham

Contact Information

Supervisors

Simon Smith (Shakespeare Institute)
University of Birmingham

Tiffany Stern (Shakespeare Institute)
University of Birmingham

Thesis title:

How Disguise Tropes in the Chamberlain/King�s Men�s Repertory from 1594 to 1630 Responded to the Rolling Process of Change Within the Company

My project looks at the King’s Men’s repertory through the lens of disguise tropes, arguing that their continued development and use of said tropes, especially in times of company upheaval, is indicative of distinguishing company characteristics. In analysing the repertory through distinct characteristics, I hope to develop and promote a more subtle understanding of the features of London theatre companies in the period.

I am also interested in company practices, including apprenticeships and casting practices, and the development of new dramatic genres in Elizabethan and Jacobean England.

Research Area

  • Languages and Literature

Publications

  • 'The depiction and deception of linen in Thomas Middleton's The Widow', The Theatrical Legacy of Thomas Middleton, 1624 - 2024, eds. William David Green, Anna L. Hegland, and Sam Jermy (forthcoming, 2024).
  • 'Renaissance Drama Excluding Shakespeare: Theatre History', The Year's Work in English Studies, eds William Baker and Kenneth Womack (Oxford: Oxford University Press) (forthcoming 2023).

Conferences

2022
  • Invited Speaker, 'Defining Linens in The Little French Lawyer', The Malone Society Conference, Stratford-upon-Avon
  • Organiser, The Malone Society Conference: The Little French Lawyer, Stratford-upon-Avon
  • Invited speaker, 'False Beards in Twelfth Night', King Edward's School Birmingham, Online

2021
  • Co-Chair, The Hidden in Performance, Visual, and Literary Culture Conference, Online
  • Presenter, 'Props and the Early Modern Theatre Audience: False Beards in The Double Marriage', M4C Research Festival, Online
  • Presenter, 'Reading Early Plays: Casting The Devil is an Ass', The Malone Society Conference, Online
  • Presenter, '"Witness the world; behold me, sir": False Beards and the Exposure of the Player's Body in Early Modern Disguise Plays', '"Wither Wander You?": New Directions in Premodern Performance', Premodern Performance Cultures, Online
  • Panel Chair, 'Technologies', "Wither Wander You?": New Directions in Premodern Performance', Premodern Performance Cultures, Online
  • Presenter, '"Witness the world; behold me, sir": False Beards and the Exposure of the Player's Body in Early Modern Disguise Plays', British Graduate Shakespeare Conference, Online
2020:
  • Presenter, 'The Perfect Disguise?: Forced Reveals in Cardenio and The Honest Man's Fortune', The Shakespeare Institute, Online
2019:
  • Panel chair, Representing Gender, British Graduate Shakespeare Conference, The Shakespeare Institute, Stratford-upon-Avon
  • Treasurer of the Twenty-First Annual British Graduate Shakespeare Conference (BritGrad), The Shakespeare Institute, Stratford-upon-Avon

2018:

  • Presenter, 'Pinching Slutty Maids: The Supernatural and Domestic Control in Shakespeare', British Graduate Shakespeare Conference, The Shakespeare Institute, Stratford-upon-Avon
  • Presenter, 'Pinching Slutty Maids: The Supernatural and Domestic Control in Shakespeare', EMREM Annual Symposium, University of Birmingham, Birmingham


Public Engagement & Impact

2021:

  • Co-Chair, The Hidden in Performance, Visual, and Literary Culture Conference.
  • Research team member, Reading Early Plays. (Ongoing).
  • Research team member, The King's Women. (Ongoing).
  • Presenter, Enrichment Week: The PhD Experience, The Shakespeare Institute, Online.
  • PhD Q&A, The Shakespeare Institute Open Day, The Shakespeare Institute, Online.
  • Panel Chair, 'Technologies', "Wither Wander You?": New Directions in Premodern Performance', Premodern Performance Cultures, Online.
  • Orders Assistant, The Malone Society. 
  • SSCC Research Student Representative, The Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham.
  • Conversation chair, The Widow, Revels Office Reading Group.

2020: 

  • General Editor, Shakespeare Institute Review. (Ongoing).
  • Presenter, Reading Early Plays Actor Session, 'Walter Haynes' and 'John Shank'.
  • Presenter, Reading Early Plays Actor Session, 'Alexander Cooke' and 'John Lowin'.
  • Presenter, Reading Early Plays Actor Session, 'William Kempe' and 'William Sly'.
  • Orders Assistant, The Malone Society. 

2019:

  • Orders Assistant, The Malone Society. 

2018:

  • SSCC Part-Time Student Representative, The Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham.

2016 – 2017:

  • Panellist, Young Script Panel, Royal Court Theatre. 


Other Research Interests

  • Disguise
  • Repertorial practices
  • Theatre spaces
  • Early modern performance history
  • Stagecraft
  • Visual culture
  • Apprentice players
  • Intertextuality


Memberships

  • Society for Renaissance Studies
  • The Malone Society
  • British Shakespeare Association
  • Reading Early Plays
  • The Revels Office PGR and ECR network

Prizes

2021: 

  • Midlands4Cities AHRC Cohort Development Fund, The Hidden in Performance, Visual, and Literary Culture (£963.06)

2020: 

  • Midlands4Cities AHRC Doctoral Studentship Award, University of Birmingham (Full)

2019: 

  • Stanley Wells Prize for outstanding scholarly work in an M.A. Dissertation, Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham (£50)

2017: 

  • Shakespeare Institute Stanley Wells Scholarship, Shakespeare Institute, 2017, University of Birmingham, (Full, £9,250)
  • Highest Achievement Award in English Literature, University of Greenwich, 2017 (£200)

2016: 

  • Highest Achievement Award in English Literature and Creative Writing, University of Greenwich, 2016 (£200)


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