Andrew Latimer
Research project title
‘Beyond 'Geordie-rama: Theatre and Performance in North East England, 2017-18’
Supervisors
Dr Helen Freshwater and Dr Alex Niven
Contact details
Email: a.j.latimer1@newcastle.ac.uk
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewjlatimer/
Research interests
- contemporary performance
- popular performance
- regional theatre
- theatre historiography
- class
- spectatorship
- amateur Theatre Heritage
- rural/urban theatre cultures
A brief outline of my research project
My research examines the contemporary theatrical culture of the North East of England using four case studies from across the region – two amateur and two professional. In each chapter, I respond to a particular term that each theatre company uses to characterise their work. I examine these terms in relation to one theatrical production made by each theatre company during the 2017/18 theatre calendar, and in doing so intervene in a number of ongoing debates regarding contemporary performance, regional theatre, heritage, spectatorship, and amateur/professional theatre cultures.
I consider how November Club’s production of Beyond the End of the Road performs its framing as ‘authentic’; how Live Theatre’s production of The Terminal Velocity of Snowflakes performs its framing as ‘contemporary’; how Darlington Operatic Society’s production of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert performs its framing as ‘lavish’; and how the People’s Theatre’s production of HEATON! performs it framing as ‘official’.
- Research Excellence Academy Scholarship
- Theatre and Performance Research Association (TaPRA)
- North East Labour History Society
- People’s Theatre and Shoe Tree Arts – Blue Plaque for Florence Bell
- November Club – Rural Touring Musical in Northumberland