University of Kent

Faculty Member, Drama

Lecturer in Drama and Performance

About

My research interests are in long eighteenth-century theatre and performance with a special emphasis on women's involvement of theatre of the period. I have presented and published on eighteenth-century women as actresses and as theatre managers, as well as on private theatricals. I am currently working on a monograph for Palgrave which examines the complex relationship between the actress and changing concepts of gender over the eighteenth century.

I am Restoration Drama reviewer for YWES and Associate Editor for Drama of the Wiley Encyclopedia of Eighteenth-Century Literature (due to be published 2014).

As a theatre historian I am also interested in the application of new technologies to research and teaching in the theatre history. In 2008-9 I led the development of the Integrated Performance and Learning Environment (IPLE) in Second Life, at University of Nottingham, with funding from the Nottingham E-Learning Team. In Spring 2011 I was awarded the Student Union 'Best Teacher' Award and the Humanities Faculty Teaching Prize for my work using online learning environments alongside historic archives in teaching theatre history. 

Moving away from my work in theatre history, I continue to develop my previous professional experience as an applied practitioner, through both research-led and public engagement activities, as well as through teaching. At present this work focuses on the ways in which applied tools can be used to empower individuals in the workplace community, looking beyond conventional training. As part of this work I am working with Nicki Shaughnessy on the Innovation Creativity and Enterprise programme.

Connecting this work to my teaching, I am also currently working with colleagues in developing Kent's new MFA in Applied Theatre and Digital Technologies.

To find out more about my current and ongoing projects visit my departmental webpage.

You can also follow me on Twitter - helenembrooks

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