The Society for Theatre Research

Mr Phillip Astley is delighted to announce that he will participate in a Study Day for The Society for Theatre Research at Lamda (London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art) on Saturday 11th May. Mr A will take pleasure in telling the story of the initiative of himself and his lady wife in the beginnings of the entertainment widely known as 'circus', though that is a title he has never personally used. The Study Day considers the important place in history of popular entertainments. Mr Astley hopes to see friends old and new on this h'auspicious h'occasion! ! More details at https://www.str.org.uk/study-day-popular-entertainments-the-past-in-our-presence/

On 11th May the STR and LAMDA will co-host the study day 'Popular Entertainments: The Past in Our Presence'. Read more about the study day here: https://str.org.uk/product/study-day-popular-entertainments/
If you'd like to attend please email [email protected] by 1st May!

Join us for our next lecture on 1st May at St Anne's Hall London at 7:30pm: 'Theatres at Risk: Theatres Trust Update' with Claire Appleby.
For an in-person ticket click here: https://str.org.uk/product/theatres-at-risk-theatres-trust-update-join-in-person/
For an online ticket click here: https://str.org.uk/product/theatres-at-risk-theatres-trust-update-join-online/

Final Call for Papers! The STR is planning a major conference in Bristol, 18 - 20 July 2024, to celebrate its 75th anniversary! Abstracts should be submitted by 15th March and more details can be found here: https://str.org.uk/a-conference-to-celebrate-the-societys-75-years/

Join us for our next lecture on 20th March 2024: 'In Conversation: The Conundrum of the Black Female Theatre Director' with Karen Tomlin! Entry is free to members and the general public but you must book in advance.
To book a free ticket online, click here: https://www.str.org.uk/product/in-conversation-the-conundrum-of-the-black-female-theatre-director-join-online/
To book a free ticket in-person, click here: https://www.str.org.uk/product/in-conversation-the-conundrum-of-the-black-female-theatre-director-join-in-person/

Reminder: Applications are now OPEN for our 2024 Research Grants and Practitioner Grants! Visit our website for more information about eligibility and to download your application form.
For our Research Grants, visit: https://str.org.uk/grants-prizes/research-awards/ Applications close 22nd March 2024!
For our Practitioner Grants, visit: https://str.org.uk/.../practitioner-research-and.../ Applications close 29th March 2024!
If you have any questions email [email protected]. Good luck!

str.org.uk

Join us on 21st February at 7:30pm for our next free lecture 'My Life in Toy Theatres' by Alan Powers! As always, our lectures are free and open to members and the general public. You read more about the lecture and book on our website (links below):
To attend in person, please book here: https://str.org.uk/product/my-life-in-toy-theatres-in-person-bookings/
To attend online, please book here: https://str.org.uk/product/my-life-in-toy-theatres-online-bookings/

Applications are now OPEN for our 2024 Research Grants and Practitioner Grants! Visit our website for more information about eligibility and to download your application form.
For our Research Grants, visit: https://str.org.uk/grants-prizes/research-awards/ Applications close 22nd March 2024!
For our Practitioner Grants, visit: https://str.org.uk/grants-prizes/research-awards/practitioner-research-and-development-grants/ Applications close 29th March 2024!
If you have any questions email [email protected]. Good luck!

Join us for a free lecture on 17th January at 7:30pm on 'The Many Adaptations of Allan Ramsay’s The Gentle Shepherd', given by Brianna E. Robertson-Kirkland! Book a free ticket for either in-person at St Anne's London or online below:

Lecture Series – Society for Theatre Research The Society for Theatre Research Lecture Series has been running since 1952 and continues to showcase leading research and practice in the field of British performance.

CfP: A special issue of Theatre Notebook on the theme of ‘Celebration’ in Theatre and Performance Research! Read more here: https://str.org.uk/cfp-special-issue-of-theatre-notebook-celebration-in-theatre-and-performance-research/

The STR New Researchers Network are organising an online workshop on Thursday 18th January and invite proposals. The deadline for submissions is 8th January and you can read more here:

str.org.uk

The STR is planning a major conference in Bristol, 18 - 20 July 2024, to celebrate its 75th anniversary! Abstracts should be submitted by 15th March and more details can be found here: https://str.org.uk/a-conference-to-celebrate-the-societys-75-years/

Join us for our next lecture at 7:30pm on 15th November: 'Freeing the voice: a discussion of Kristin Linklater voice work for actors' online and at St Anne's. All our lectures are free and open to members and the general public but you must book in advance - links below!
For in-person bookings: https://str.org.uk/product/freeing-the-voice-a-discussion-of-kristin-linklater-voice-work-for-actors-in-person-bookings/
For online bookings: https://str.org.uk/product/freeing-the-voice-a-discussion-of-kristin-linklater-voice-work-for-actors-online-bookings/

Join us for for an in conversation with PATERSON JOSEPH to discuss his play Sancho on 18th October at 7:30pm! The event is free and open to the public. You can book for an in-person or online ticket via our website - links below:
Book for ONLINE here: https://www.str.org.uk/product/in-conversation-paterson-joseph-and-deirdre-osborne-online-bookings/
Book for IN-PERSON here: https://www.str.org.uk/product/in-conversation-paterson-joseph-and-deirdre-osborne-join-in-person/

Are you an actor new to the profession? Apply to be part of the prestigious Poel Workshops held at the National Theatre:

Society for Theatre Research celebrates the 40th Poel Workshop at The National Theatre – Society for Theatre Research News Share 20 September 2023 / News Society for Theatre Research celebrates the 40th Poel Workshop at The National Theatre 2023 marks the 40th year of the wonderful association of The National Theatre and the free Poel Shakespeare Workshop. Sponsored by The Society for Theatre Research, the workshop...

Free lunchtime talk: An 18th Century Entrepreneur: Sarah Baker and her Kentish Theatres, 1737-1816 – an illustrated talk presented by Dr Jean Baker
Kent History and Library Centre, Monday 11 September, 1-2pm

Sarah Baker was an illiterate fairground performer who became one of the most successful self-made women of the 18th century. Born in 1737, she spent her youth travelling the country with her mother and younger sister, entertaining at fairs and race meetings. In the early 1770s, Sarah took over from her mother as manager of the small family troupe and began to concentrate their activities in Kent. Makeshift venues were her only ‘theatres’ until she opened the first of her four ‘great grand’ Kentish theatres in 1789. The third of these was built at Maidstone in 1798.

The talk will explore how Sarah played an influential role in the political, social and cultural development of the Kentish towns where she built her theatres, and how her approach to the challenges she faced ensured her survival.

Dr Jean Baker (not a descendant of Sarah Baker) worked as a journalist for some years. In 2000 she completed a PhD at the University of Kent that explored the significance of provincial theatre in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Her book, Sarah Baker and her Kentish Theatres, 1737-1816: Challenging the Status Quo was the Society for Theatre Research’s annual publication for 2019.

To reserve your seat, please contact:
☎️ 03000 42 06 73
📧 [email protected]
💌 DM us through Facebook

Image credit: A print of a tightrope walker from the series 'The Cryes of the City of London Drawne after the Life' by Marcellus Laroon, 1688. Ref: 3335i – Wellcome Collection, London.

The Society for Theatre Research | Kent Family History Society | Explore Your Archive

Iain Mackintosh’s book ‘Theatre Spaces 1920-2020: Finding the Fun in Functionalism’, co-published by the Society for Theatre Research and Bloomsbury-Methuen (and this year’s annual publication) has been reviewed by Michael Billington in The Guardian:

The play’s the thing – but its success depends on the theatre too | Michael Billington Not all buildings are created equal. From sightlines to acoustics to the alchemy of actor-audience rapport, the physical facts of a dramatic space are fundamental

At a reception at the Actor’s Church, St Paul’s Covent Garden, when the Theatre Book Prize presentation formed part of the Society’s 75th Anniversary celebration, President Timothy West announced this year’s winner of STR’s Theatre Book Prize as...

An Actor’s Life in 12 Productions by Oliver Ford Davies, published by Guild Books

Read more here:

Oliver Ford Davies has won the STR Theatre Book Prize! – Society for Theatre Research News Share 18 June 2023 / Theatre Book Prize Oliver Ford Davies has won the STR Theatre Book Prize! image: Tim West, president of the STR, presenting the Book Prize to Oliver Ford Davies At a reception at the Actor’s Church, St Paul’s Covent Garden, when the Theatre Book Prize presentation forme...

Our full list of winners for this year's Research Grants and Practitioner Research & Development Grants are now posted on the STR website:
https://www.str.org.uk/str-practitioner-grants-for-2023-announced/
https://www.str.org.uk/str-research-grants-for-2023-announced/

Congratulations to all! Keep an eye out for future reports from our grant recipients, and for announcements about next year's grants.

STR Research Grants for 2023 Announced – Society for Theatre Research News Share 25 May 2023 / Grants and Awards STR Research Grants for 2023 Announced The STR is delighted to announce the following Research Grants have been distributed for 2023: The Anthony Denning Award was given to Caroline Radcliffe (Reader in Drama and Performance, Birmingham) towards the cost of...

This year's Edward Gordon Craig lecture (held with

) is on 1st June at 6pm on the subject of 'Designing Pantomime'! The event is held in partnership with the UK Pantomime Association and you can book your free ticket via Eventbrite: https://str.org.uk/product/edward-gordon-craig-lecture-2023-designing-pantomime/

We are thrilled to announce the short list for the 2023 Theatre Book Prize! Our judges this year are , William Purefoy and Jennifer Thorp and you can see the full longlist on our website. Our shortlisted titles (listed alphabetically by author):

• But Will It Get a Laugh? The Life of Doris Hare in Three Acts by Kate Crehan (STR)

• An Actor’s Life in 12 Productions by Oliver Ford Davies (Book Guild)

• The Club on the Edge of Town: A Pandemic Memoir by Allan Lane (Salamander Street)

• Inside the Rehearsal Room: Process, Collaboration and Decision-Making by Robert Marsden (Methuen Drama)

• Pinter and Stoppard: A Director’s View by Carey Perloff (Methuen Drama)

• The Playwright’s Manifesto: How You Can be the Future of Playwriting by Paul Sirett (Methuen Drama)

The winner of this year’s prize will be announced on Thursday 15th June 2023, when the Society will be celebrating both 75 years since its inauguration and 25 years since the Theatre Book Prize was established. Congratulations to our shortlisted authors and publishers!

https://www.str.org.uk/grants-prizes/theatre-book-prize/

Join us for our Annual Address on 24th May 2023 (after the AGM): 'Theatre Performances are Ephemeral While Buildings Endure'. If you are joining online book a free ticket on our website: https://str.org.uk/product/theatre-performances-are-ephemeral-while-buildings-endure/

We are very close to announcing the shortlist for this year's

Theatre Book Prize! Interested in who's on the longlist? View the full list in alphabetical order on our website:
https://str.org.uk/grants-prizes/theatre-book-prize/

Diva The diva – a central figure in the landscape of contemporary popular culture: gossip-generating, scandal-courting, paparazzi-stalked. And yet the diva is at the…

Join this Wednesday 26th April for our next free lecture 'Gentrifying popular entertainment: operetta and burlesque at the Gaiety Theatre, London 1868-1886' with Dr. Eilidh Innes! Join us in person or watch online: https://str.org.uk/product/gentrifying-popular-entertainment-operetta-and-burlesque-at-the-gaiety-theatre-london-1868-1886/

POSTPONED: Our next lecture 'Re-staging Inconvenient British Histories' which was due to be held on 22nd March has been postponed. We hope to reschedule this lecture and will post an update on our website in due course: https://www.str.org.uk/product/to-be-confirmed-2/

Urgent notice: tonight's lecture 'The Making of a Monster' will now only be on Zoom. This lecture will start at 7:30pm and can be accessed via: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82062362811?pwd=UlU0dlNGQnpuQytteXdLT3JBSzI0QT09
Webinar ID: 820 6236 2811
Passcode: 762603

More information about the lecture: https://www.str.org.uk/product/to-be-confirmed/

The Making of a Monster: an Anatomy of Musical Flops – Society for Theatre Research Events Share 27 February 2023 / Events The Making of a Monster: an Anatomy of Musical Flops ONLINE LECTURE The Making of a Monster: an Anatomy of Musical Flops The image of young Cosette, based on the original 1862 illustration by Émile Bayard, is now identified with Les Misérables globally, whi...

Applications are now open for our Practitioner Grants! These are open to practitioners who are working in the UK to facilitate British/British-related theatre projects. Deadline is 7th April and details are here:

2023 Research Grants Application Form now available! – Society for Theatre Research News Share 29 January 2023 / Research Grants 2023 Research Grants Application Form now available! image from Tony Lidington’s researches on Pierrots, for which he received grants in 2019 and 2022 Calling all researchers! Is there an element within your research topics that deals with an aspect of ...

Join us for our next free lecture: 'The Making of a Monster: an Anatomy of Musical Flops' by Christopher Howell on 27th February at 7:30pm! Attend in person at St Anne's Soho, or sign up on our website to join online: https://www.str.org.uk/product/to-be-confirmed/