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When Hand and Wilson commenced research into Grand-Guignol in the late 1990s, it was a neglected topic in academic studies and a largely forgotten or misunderstood form in both theatrical circles and the popular imagination. Hand and Wilson have unraveled the myths surrounding the Grand-Guignol to explain in unprecedented depth this unique phenomenon in popular theatre and horror culture. Hand and Wilson have had a major role in the renaissance of the form in academia and also in the professional theatre and media. Their research has enjoyed extensive media coverage and the plays the authors have published have been performed internationally.
This case study describes the impact of making academic knowledge of Spanish-language theatre widely available so that it creates opportunities for translation, performance and learning. Since 2008, the AHRC-funded project `Out of the Wings' has provided the English-language theatre professional with access to thoroughly researched and contextualized information about Spanish-language theatre that is fit for professional purpose through a database that provides comprehensive information for and about translators, writers, key practitioners and scholars. The work has created the environment for engagement with previously unknown theatre, resulting in new translations, the development of methodologies for the rehearsal of the translated text and the creation of new audiences.
Research findings on the lives and work of Edith Craig (1869-1947), lesbian theatre director and suffragette, and her mother, Ellen Terry (1847-1928), internationally celebrated Shakespearean actor have been shared with members of the public, family history researchers and members of Equity (the actors' union) through talks, a conference and documented use of the AHRC Ellen Terry and Edith Craig database (20,000 records). This online database has had a significant impact on the preservation and worldwide accessibility of one of the most significant theatre archives in the UK. It has assisted members of the public in genealogical research, raised awareness of women's enfranchisement, promoted citizenship and inspired public performance of original drama.
Elizabeth Kuti's writing has had an impact on the public's understanding of eighteenth-century literature by bringing an important part of the British heritage alive again for twenty-first century audiences. As an eighteenth-century scholar and a playwright, she works with what performance records tell us were unperformed, or rarely performed, dramas. She creatively restores these forgotten eighteenth-century plays, and has even completed an unfinished comedy from 1764. She also dramatises the lives and writings of well-known eighteenth-century public figures. To these ends, she has collaborated with the Theatre Royal in Bury St. Edmunds, the National Portrait Gallery, and the BBC. Her work has given the public an important opportunity to see rare eighteenth-century plays and to understand this period better through the historically-inspired drama she has written for the stage and radio.
Laura Bradley's research on GDR theatre censorship (2006-) enabled the University of Edinburgh to stage The Stasi are Among Us at the Glasgow Film Festival (2011). This two-day event increased public understanding of East German culture, showing how artists participated in censorship and how it affected their working lives: 95% of the audience agreed that they had learned more about GDR culture and/or censorship. The event's success led the Glasgow Film Festival's Artistic Director to choose Germany as the country focus for the 2012 Festival. Bradley has collaborated with Theatre Found on events campaigning against present-day censorship in Belarus and Iran, using the recent East German experience to explore control mechanisms and show how they were abolished.
Professor Okagbue's research into modern African theatre, diasporic performance and post- colonial possibility has had impact in African and British communities and in the world of theatre. Founder and first President of the African Theatre Association (AfTA) 2006-2012, Okagbue has built networks between African and UK practitioners and local Black communities through projects, including the Sameboat anti-slavery memorial project 2007-9 and the AHRC-funded research project Beyond Linear Narratives at the Pinter Centre, Goldsmiths, for which he was co-investigator. An important impact of this work has been the success of new diasporic writing and performance, including playwrights directly mentored by Okagbue.
Staging Russian plays in British theatres presents specific difficulties, ranging from the remoteness of cultural and historical points of reference down to the complexity of Russian names. Dr Curtis's interpretative, biographical and editorial studies of Russian drama have assisted companies such as the RSC, the National Theatre, the Belgrade Theatre (Coventry) and Complicité to overcome these barriers to staging Russian plays. She has achieved this through running educational workshops for the companies, talks, translations, event planning, help to props and other departments, and the writing of theatre programmes, bringing cultural and educational enrichment to professionals and public.
Research undertaken at the University of East London has confronted the historical lack of documentation, representation and participation in the British theatre by ethnic minority communities, with particular reference to the British Asian community. This work has been used to create and shape the production of important new theatre pieces, as well as to engage and develop new young and diverse audiences for them. Workshops, post-show discussions and symposia relating to the production of these pieces have increased the engagement of these new audiences both with theatre generally, and with the often sensitive, contested, and politically-charged subject-matter of the specific pieces under review. The research has also been used as the basis for the development and delivery of professional development training for emerging theatre artists from minority community backgrounds.
Professor Tim Prentki's research focuses on how the arts can benefit both society and the individual, with a particular focus on the methods practitioners can employ to achieve positive change and improve the quality of life within specific communities. His work challenges cultural values and social assumptions and contributes to debates about civil society and policy making.
The impact of this work has been felt in the following areas:
His recent, original contribution to the field lies in his ground-breaking practice of linking facilitation, central to the development of `truthful' performance, to the traditional role of the `fool' in theatre.
The Stanislavski Centre,(Patron, Prof. Anatoly Smeliansky), founded 2007, responds to the Stanislavski legacy and post-Stanislavski approaches to acting and provides a research-driven facility promoting and developing a new field of `Stanislavski Studies' within an international context. The Centre acts as a conduit enabling professional practice and scholarly research to interact, enrich and inform each other. Based upon the pioneering research, translations and publications of RBC's former Principal, Professor Jean Benedetti, the Centre, guided by a distinguished advisory board, includes an archive of photographic, printed and AV materials and hosts an annual programme of events open to the public. In 2012, the centre launched an ejournal, Stanislavski Studies. (bit.ly/Iu8VVo)