Alyson Campbell

Alyson completed a Practice as Research (PaR) PhD at the University of Melbourne (2009). The thesis, ‘Experiencing Kane: an affective approach to Sarah Kane’s experiential theatre in performance’, included direction of Kane’s 4.48 Psychosis at Red Stitch Actors Theatre, Melbourne, Australia, 2007.

She holds an MA in Theatre Studies and BA Hons in Russian from Leeds University, UK, and a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) in Drama from Goldsmiths College, London. Alyson has worked as a lecturer in theatre studies/drama in the School of Creative Arts, The University of Melbourne, Queen’s University Belfast and Brunel University, London. Alyson is a freelance director and dramaturg, and has worked in a broad range of situations over the last 30 years: from the four-stage Los Angeles Theatre Center, through Fringe, independent and community theatre, to making forum theatre with secondary students. Alyson’s research, artistic practice as a director, teaching and activism converge around gender and sexuality, particularly queer performance and dramaturgies and contemporary representations of HIV and AIDS. She has written widely on these areas, most notably co-editing the collection Queer Dramaturgies: International Perspectives on Where Performance Leads Queer (Palgrave, 2015) with Dr Stephen Farrier, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. This book has been shortlisted for the Theatre and Performance Research Association (TaPRA) editing award. Her next collection, ‘HIV and AIDS Performance in the Twenty-First Century: An International Collection’, with Dr Dirk Gindt, Stockholm, is forthcoming (Palgrave, 2017/18). Alyson’s focus is around the representation of women and the nexus of queer theories and feminism. Alyson is committed to queer representation and works closely with the community, largely through her work with Outburst Queer Arts Festival, Belfast, for which she established and convened a performance research programme Queer at Queen’s at Queen’s University. She co-founded the Queer Futures Working Group for the International Federation of Theatre Research (IFTR), which is a vibrant network developing the work of queer performance scholarship. She co-edited a special forum on the WG for Theatre Research International (2015) Much of Alyson’s practice as a theatre maker and scholar is realised in large-scale practice-led research projects. These include her thesis, on directing Sarah Kane’s work 4.48 Psychosis (2002 – 9), developing dramaturgical and directing strategies that responded to theories of affect; Bison (2008 – 11), encompassing directing Lachlan Philpott’s play of that name in Belfast and London, and writing about gay male sexualities, cultural translation and HIV; The Trouble with Harry (2010 – 2014), which included directing the premiere of Philpott’s historical play The Trouble with Harry in Belfast (2013) and for the Melbourne International Arts Festival (2014. Her writing theorises this work through queer theories of temporality and historiography. The production won Green Room awards for direction and best production in the Independent category. Her most recent work is GL RY (2013 – present) on HIV and AIDS in contemporary performance. Her main areas of research and supervision are in gender and queer theory/performance, directing and dramaturgy, phenomenological approaches to performance, social justice and disability in the arts. She is committed to developing modes of practice led/as research throughout her teaching at all levels.