Bodies of Work

: Feminist, Practice-Led Approaches to Restoration Drama and Performance.

Abstract

This thesis demonstrates that feminist, practice-led methodologies can expand the archive by revealing important latent performance and biographical traces of women that dominant epistemologies miss. Each case study reveals significant re-readings of performances by Nell Gwyn, Mary Lee, and Elizabeth Barry, and my central question is in two parts: 'What is happening onstage?’ and ‘Can we see more if we look differently?’
My approach to the work is autoethnographically informed; the neurodivergent impulse for variety and discovery has influenced my cross-disciplinary approach as my multiple selves (feminist, burlesque performer, academic, historian, theatre practitioner) bring their insights to the work. The application of a feminist lens has oriented my approach to this study and informed my detailed archive work prompting previously unasked questions about the biographies, work and influence of Nell Gwyn, Mary Lee, Elizabeth Mallet, and Elizabeth Barry, and demonstrates the importance of creative, embodied, and cross-disciplinary working methods that are inclusive and comprehend the value of previously excluded voices. My work on reading between performances and reconnecting lost performance contexts offers a corrective to the slippage arising from the canonical view of Restoration plays. The restoration of context through the synergy of artistic and archival methodologies reveals meaning, tone and wit latent in the text; perceived tropes can be revealed as references to a real person or event and the seemingly obscure as a topical joke. This has implications for our understanding about the work and lines of individual actresses, as well as virtuosic and bravura performances, possible casting, and additionally informs readings of characters, scenes, and plays.

Date of Award	7 May 2024
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bristol
Supervisor	Elaine M McGirr (Supervisor)