Deborah Pakkar-Hull

Profile

My research at Leeds focuses on developing new perspectives on the current environment for Educational Theatre, investigating potential models of sustainable practice. I am interested in using an ecological theoretical lens to disrupt current epistemologies and explore how Educational Theatre might both exist within, and challenge the prevailing marketised systems of arts education. My study is inspired by over 30 years of working in the field of Educational Theatre in a variety of roles. I started as a secondary Drama Teacher, before joining Theatre in Education company The Play House as an Actor-Teacher. In this role, I toured health education projects and performances to secondary schools, unsettling the often instrumental agendas of funders and commissioners, by deploying playfulness and collaborating with artists from other performance disciplines. After several years, I moved to touring participatory theatre embedding critical pedagogies, and regularly working with 50 partner primary schools. I subsequently became the company’s Artistic Director, directing performances alongside leading the company’s artistic programme, partnerships and fundraising, and managing a small team of creative practitioners. During my time at The Play House, I predominantly worked in Birmingham, but also had the opportunity to tour theatre and facilitate workshops in Nigeria, Brazil and Hong Kong.

In 2014 I became the Artistic Director of Leeds-based Theatre Company Blah Blah Blah, just as the company’s long-established relationships with the youth sector and secondary schools began to significantly decline. I instigated a move towards working within primary schools, brokering work with community, heritage, and library partners, and collaborating with other companies. Key projects during this time were The Vultures Song, developed in partnership with Yellowcat Theatre in Delhi, inspired by the stories of survivors of Partition and shortlisted for the Best Play for Young Audiences by the Writer’s Guild of Britain. Also, The Hidden Garden, which toured nationally to theatres, libraries and community settings, and involved children with experiences of food poverty and sanctuary-seeking, contributing to its creative development.

I left the Blahs at the end of 2021 to work independently as a freelance director and theatre-maker, crafting original work, mostly for young audiences, featuring collaborative creative processes, community-engagement, cross-sector partnerships and resonant storytelling. In 2022 and 2024 I worked with Libellule Theatre under commission by Leeds Libraries to create two festive shows, breaking down barriers to engagement for local families, and this year I developed and directed Otherhood, a new show exploring stories of loss, ageing without children and the power of connection. This toured as a part of the official Bradford 2025 City of Culture programme, and was the inaugural activity of Old Bird, a new Bradford-based theatre company I have set up with local writer Emma Adams.

Alongside my professional practice I have regularly taught on an associate basis at HE institutions across the country, and together with colleague Dr Geoff Readman I work as a Primary Drama Education Consultant.

I am carrying out my research on a part-time basis with scholarship funding from the School of Performance and Cultural Industries.

Research interests

Educational Theatre

Theatre for Young Audiences

Applied Performance

Participatory and socially engaged practice

Critical pedagogies

Qualifications

• MA Drama and Theatre Education
• Post Graduate Certificate in Education: Secondary Drama
• BA (Hons) Drama and English
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy