Dr Cristina Delgado-Garcia
- Lecturer in Theatre and Performance (Theatre, Film & Television Studies)
telephone:
0141 3302746
email:
Cristina.DelgadoGarcia@glasgow.ac.uk
Biography
I joined the Theatre Studies team at Glasgow in 2018, having previously worked at the University of Birmingham, the University of Leeds and Manchester Metropolitan University. I hold a PhD in Theatre Studies (Aberystwyth) and a Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice (Birmingham), and I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Originally from Barcelona, Spain, I arrived to theatre scholarship enjoying the scenic route. I completed a BA in Journalism and a BA in English Philology (both at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) and an MA in Post-1900s Literatures, Theories and Cultures (Manchester). My first professional experiences were in supporting the organisation and delivery of international music festivals and, later, in the radio as a DJ, arts magazine programme host and broadcast journalist (news editor, presenter and producer). This academic and professional background was crucial in the development of my research interests in dramatic histories and new developments, contemporary experimental theatre in dialogue with other visual and performing arts, and the relationship of both to current affairs. These continue to be at the heart of my research.
Research interests
My research specialism is in contemporary British/European theatre since 1990 and its relationship to political and philosophical questions pertinent to our socio-historical conjuncture. Much of my research therefore has focused on politically-motivated theatres, but I am also keen to find the political elsewhere in theatre-making. My recent publications and conference presentations have explored the ways in which theatre articulates and anticipates forms of resistance to – or indeed compliance with – hegemonic ideology. I have written on contemporary theatre and queer identities, collective agency, dissident understandings of time, the dramaturgical uses of consensus and consent, ecology, and theatrical visions of democracy.
Following the publication of my first monograph, Rethinking Character in Contemporary British Theatre: Aesthetics, Politics, Subjectivity (2015), I co-edited the collection Affects in 21st-Century British Theatre: Exploring Feeling on Page and Stage (2021) with Prof Mireia Aragay (Barcelona) and Prof Martin Middeke (Augsburg/Johannesburg). This was the first output of an international research project entitled "British Theatre in the Twenty-First Century: Crisis, Affect, Community", led by Prof Aragay and funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and the European Regional Development Fund. My next research project focuses on British theatre-maker Tim Crouch, on which I am preparing a monograph for Manchester University Press.
Grants
-
2017-2020: “British theatre in the twenty-first century: crisis, affect, community”. Role: Co-investigator. Principal Investigator: Prof Mireia Aragay (Barcelona). Funding bodies: Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad; European Regional Development Fund. Funds: €50,000.
-
2014: “Representations of precariousness in contemporary British theatre”. Role: Co-investigator. Principal Investigator: Prof Martin Middeke (Augsburg). Funding body: German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). Funds: €6,690.
-
2013-2016: “Ethical issues in contemporary British theatre since 1989: globalisation, theatricality, spectatorship”. Role: Co-investigator. Principal Investigator: Prof Mireia Aragay (Barcelona). Funding body: Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad. Funds: €62,000.
Supervision
I very much welcome enquiries from potential PhD students interested in pursuing their project at the University of Glasgow focusing on any of these fields:
- Contemporary playwriting, theatre and performance in Britain: aesthetics and politics.
- Contemporary European theatre and performance, especially in the Spanish/Catalan context.
- Political theatres, socially-engaged theatre practice and delegated performance.
- Theatre and political/cultural theory.
You can email me to discuss your project at Cristina.DelgadoGarcia@glasgow.ac.uk.
PhD examination
I have examined three PhDs, one as internal examiner at the University of Glasgow and two others as external examiner at the University of Western Australia and the University of St Andrews/Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
Current PhD students
Since 2016, I have been co-supervisor for Andrew Lennon's AHRC-funded doctoral project (University of Birmingham), which focuses on documentary strategies in contemporary theatre and performance. At Glasgow, I am lead supervisor for the following project:
- Cáceres, Luz
'Verbatim theatre: Advancing testimonial justice and inclusive deliberation in Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador'
I briefly supervised Elisabeth Massana, a visiting doctoral candidate from the University of Barcelona, whose project focuses on terror, precariousness and post-9/11 British theatre (June-August 2019).
Teaching
In the academic year 2020-21, I teach in and/or convene the following courses:
MLitt courses
- Contemporary Dramaturgical Practices (convenor)
- Research Methods
- Independent Research Project (dramaturgy)
Undergraduate courses
- Theatre Studies Dissertation (Level 4)
- Classical to Modern (Level 2, Convenor)
- Modernism to Postdramatic (Level 2, convenor)
- Reading the Stage (Level 1)
In addition to these, I have also taught in or convened the following courses in recent years: Reading and Interpreting Performance (MLitt, convenor), Performance Theory and Analysis (Level 4, convenor), Theatre and Society (Level 1).
Additional information
External roles
- Co-convenor of the Political Performances Working Group of the International Federation for Theatre Research (2018-21).
- Reviews Editor of the journal Performing Ethos (2018 - present).
- External Examiner for the MA Theatre and MRes Performing Arts at the University of Lincoln (2019 - present).
Conference co-organisation & facilitation
- Co-convenorship and curation of the Political Performances Working Group sessions for the annual IFTR congress, with Prof Trish Reid and Dr Julia Boll: Theatre Ecologies: Environments, Sustainability, and Politics (Galway, July 2021), Theatre, Performance and Urbanism (Shanghai Theatre Academy, July 2019) and Theatre and Migration (Belgrade, July 2018).
- Co-facilitator of two workshops on theatre and democracy, with Lucy Ellinson, Dr Aneta Mancewicz and Chris Thorpe. Radical Mischief: A Conference Inviting Experiment in Theatre, Thought and Politics. The Other Place, RSC. Stratford-Upon-Avon. July 2018.
- Co-organiser of the Standing Conference of University Drama Departments (SCUDD), with Dr Caroline Radcliffe and Dr Paul Geary. University of Birmingham. June 2018.
- Co-organiser of the 24th annual conference of the German Society for Contemporary Theatre and Drama in English (CDE), with Prof Mireia Aragay and Dr Enric Monforte. Theatre and Spectatorship. University of Barcelona. June 2015.
Keynotes and invited research seminars
- Keynote presentation. Title tbc. Resisting Theatre: Plays, Politics and the Academy. Royal Holloway University of London and University of York, June 2021.
- Invited research seminars. 'Labours Lost: Delegated Performance and the Work of Erasure'. University of Lincoln, December 2017; University of Reading, November 2017.
- Keynote presentation. 'The Work of Others: Delegated Performance, the Workers and Their Double'. Theatre, Performance & Employment symposium. Queen Mary, University of London. February 2017.
Conversations and public engagement
- Invited speaker. Different Stages research showcase event, part of 'Different Stages: Exploring public engagement for Drama and Theatre early career academics', a British Academy-funded project run by Dr Naomi Paxton. Glasgow Women’s Library, January 2020.