I am a Professor of Theatre History with expertise in theatre and cultural histories during the 1800s and early 1900s. I’m interested in how theatre can function as a lens through which we can better understand the organisation of social life and the people who made and watched it. I have published widely across the areas of theatre, performance, celebrity, society, and well-being. Female Performance Practices on the fin-de-siècle stages of London and Paris (Manchester University Press, 2007) focused on theatre and cabaret dancers and singers and has been cited across scholarly theatre history, cultural history, and art history publications, used as a key reference for exhibition curation and catalogues in London and New York. London’s West End Actresses and the Origins of Celebrity Culture, 1880-1920 (University of Iowa Press, 2016) explored how the theatrical A list of the turn of the twentieth century established public charity activity that remains familiar today and that cemented and underpinned their fame. Theatre in the Chocolate Factory: Early Twentieth Century Performance at Bournville (Cambridge University Press: 2023) considers the intersections between work and play at the famous firm, the use of theatre to support industry, and the role of creative play within wellbeing and education programmes. The three books sit alongside a series of peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters and contributions to the Oxford National Dictionary of Biography, covering theatre, heritage, theatre ghosts, Bristol Old Vic, spiritualism, the Theosophical Society, and celebrity holidaying. I welcome applications for postgraduate study in any of these areas.

I am a Professor of Theatre History with expertise in theatre and cultural histories during the 1800s and early 1900s. I’m interested in how theatre can function as a lens through which we can better understand the organisation of social life and the people who made and watched it. I have published widely across the areas of theatre, performance, celebrity, society, and well-being. Female Performance Practices on the fin-de-siècle stages of London and Paris (Manchester University Press, 2007) focused on theatre and cabaret dancers and singers and has been cited across scholarly theatre history, cultural history, and art history publications, used as a key reference for exhibition curation and catalogues in London and New York. London’s West End Actresses and the Origins of Celebrity Culture, 1880-1920 (University of Iowa Press, 2016) explored how the theatrical A list of the turn of the twentieth century established public charity activity that remains familiar today and that cemented and underpinned their fame. Theatre in the Chocolate Factory: Early Twentieth Century Performance at Bournville (Cambridge University Press: 2023) considers the intersections between work and play at the famous firm, the use of theatre to support industry, and the role of creative play within wellbeing and education programmes. The three books sit alongside a series of peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters and contributions to the Oxford National Dictionary of Biography, covering theatre, heritage, theatre ghosts, Bristol Old Vic, spiritualism, the Theosophical Society, and celebrity holidaying. I welcome applications for postgraduate study in any of these areas.