Research and innovation

Our research takes a critical and applied approach to exploring the role that performance and the arts play in the creative, cultural and social aspects of society.

Our research

The academic expertise of our staff and research students form a diverse and welcoming community united by a passion for theatre, performance and the wider arts and cultural sector.

We have a strong interdisciplinary ethos which leads us to collaborate with colleagues from across the University, as well as with universities and industry partners around the world.

Our vibrant and growing community of PhD researchers is an integral part of our research culture and reflects the rich diversity of our School’s research interests.

Research groups

Research in the School of Performance and Cultural Industries is represented by six research groups.

Audience, Experience and Engagement

The Audience, Experience and Engagement research group investigates how audiences engage with and are engaged by a range of theatre forms, performance and the arts.

Bodies and Performance

The Bodies and Performance research group explores the way bodies are performed in their cultural, biological, philosophical, aesthetic and mediated contexts and manifestations.

Participation

The Participation research group examines the nature of participation as both a process and a goal, in all its forms, from participatory practice, research and governance.

Place and Performance

This research group examines how place functions beyond the theatre building, focusing on the reciprocal relationship between people and place in both built and natural environments.

Performance Training, Preparation and Pedagogy

Positioning training within a larger context of performance practice this research group explores the processes of preparation in dramaturgy, composition, theatre directing and devising.

Centre for Cultural Policy

The Centre for Cultural Policy is dedicated to exploring and expanding the breadth of research in the field of cultural policy, regionally, nationally and internationally.

Centre for Cultural Value

The Centre for Cultural Value is dedicated to exploring the impacts that the arts and culture have on people, and more broadly on society. It aims to promote an evidence-based approach to cultural policy and planning, and to impact evaluation.

Stanislavsky Research Centre

The Stanislavsky Research Centre is a unique international initiative created to provide a home for both academic and practice/performance-based research based upon the work and legacy of Konstantin Stanislavsky.

Impact and engagement

With industry in its name, the School’s research is rooted in strong local, regional, national and international collaborations with external partners ensuring that the impact of our work is felt on society locally and globally. We are proud of the deep relationships our researchers have forged with a broad range of industry partners in culture, environment, health, policymaking, economics and business and we are committed to engaging with the challenging opportunities for real-world change and transformation that these partners demand.

Research Seminar Series

Our regular seminars are an opportunity to hear about and discuss new research in performance and the cultural industries from invited guest speakers, academic researchers and postgraduate research students.

Centre for Practice-led Research in the Arts

The Centre for Practice Research in the Arts (CePRA) brings together scholars from across the arts disciplines whose research employs practice research methodologies.

Research projects

Our research projects explore a wide range of contemporary issues within the performance and cultural industries, working with partners on a global scale.

Explore our research projects

Visiting scholars

If you are a professional or an academic, and you have a scheme of academic research that you can appropriately conduct at the School of Performance and Cultural Industries, then our visiting scholar programme may be a perfect opportunity for you.