Nicola Hollinshead

Profile

I am a practice-led researcher and applied theatre practitioner whose work is rooted in creative practice, social justice, and community collaboration. My career began in professional theatre from being a member of Liverpool’s Everyman Youth Theatre to working under the direction of the radical maverick theatre director Ken Campbell with Liverpool Everyman’s main company. After completing a BA in Drama & English at Goldsmiths, University of London, I undertook postgraduate acting training at The Actors Company with Arts Educational Schools.

Over more than a twenty-five year period I worked across repertory theatre, community theatre, devised performance, one-woman shows, Eastern European touring, small, middle and No. 1 tours, the London and Edinburgh Fringe, and independent film and television. This breadth of experience continues to shape my creative methodologies and my commitment to collaborative, process-driven practice.

Further training and work as a freelance Drama Facilitator led me to study for an MA in Applied Theatre at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, graduating in 2017. Following this, I founded Islington People’s Theatre (IPT), a Community Interest Company that uses applied theatre to engage adults affected by violence, involvement in the criminal justice system, homelessness, addiction, mental ill health, care experience, and social exclusion. Since 2021, I have led the development and delivery of funded community arts programmes that support participation, creative expression, agency and social connection among underrepresented communities.

Alongside my work with IPT, I have collaborated with organisations including Safe Ground, Unlock Drama, Magic Me, Outside Edge Theatre Company, Arcola Theatre, Southwark Playhouse, and the University of Leeds. My practice centres participation, co-creation, and the amplification of voices and experiences often excluded from cultural and civic spaces.

My Practice-as-Research PhD, Small Acts of Resistance, is based in the London Borough of Islington and delivered through IPT. Working with women who have experienced intersecting forms of social, economic, and gendered disadvantage, I explore how applied theatre, feminist praxis, radical care, and creative activism can support collective reflection, agency, and social action.

The research employs a reflexive, participatory, and dialogic methodology in which workshop processes generate the themes, questions, and activist responses emerging from participants’ lived experiences. Using an emergent and collaborative approach, I centre participants’ knowledge, priorities, and aspirations, positioning them as co-creators of both the creative process and the knowledge produced through it.

At the heart of my study is the development of an original practice model, Feminist, Creative, Activist, which brings together feminist theory, radical care, applied theatre, and creative activism through an iterative process of collective reflection and action. Through this framework, my research seeks to contribute an original feminist activist praxis to the field of applied theatre, advancing understanding of how creative practice can support everyday forms of resistance, agency, and collective action among women experiencing multiple disadvantage.

Research interests

• Applied theatre and social justice
• Feminist praxis and radical care
• Creative activism and everyday resistance
• Women, precarity, and social exclusion
• Participatory and community-engaged performance

Qualifications

• MA (Royal Central School of Speech and Drama)
• BA (Goldsmiths)