PhD Researcher (2023-2027)

Supervisor: Professor Stuart Hampton-Reeves

Email: Shuangting.Chen@warwick.ac.uk

Research

Doctoral project: Hamlet’s Body in Contemporary Performances

In contemporary performances, Hamlet’s body serves as a site of cultural inscription, where issues of identity, gender fluidity, desire, and the boundaries of the human form are explored and redefined. As Michel Foucault argues, “the body is the inscribed surface of events”, reflecting the complex ways in which the body becomes a vehicle for cultural and social narratives. This research examines how Hamlet’s body is reimagined in adaptations by Michelle Terry (The Globe, UK, 2018), Lin Zhaohua (Beijing People’s Theatre, China, 1990, 1994 and 2008), and Thomas Ostermeier (Schaubühne, Germany, 2008), among others. Through the analysis of these productions, this research will explore how Hamlet’s body serves not only as a performative tool but also as a site for interrogating identity, agency, and embodiment on stage.

Research Interests:

Contemporary Performances

Acting and Directing

Shakespearean Stagings

 Publications

Book

S.Su and S. Chen, editors. Soul of Drama. Jiangsu Phoenix Art Publishing House, 2023. ISBN 9787574109247.

S.Su, B.Zhang, and S. Chen, editors. Handbook of Actor’s Speech and Voice. Jiangsu Phoenix Art Publishing House. [2025 expect]

 Chapters

“Social Responsibility in Theatre: Review of the 2023 Festival d’Avignon.” Chinese Drama Criticism Facing the World, edited by Xie Bailiang, Chinese Drama Publishing House. [2024 expect]

“A Character with a Distinct Character.” Soul of Drama, edited by S. Su and S. Chen, Jiangsu Phoenix Art Publishing House, 2023. ISBN 9787574109247.

 Peer-reviewed articles:

“Artistic Exploration of Stan Lai’s Dramatic Structure”. Sichuan Drama, (10),62–66. (SSCI)

“When the Video is Combined Drama Becomes a Kind of Thinking: Study of Daydream”. Art Observatory., (27),62–66.

“Study of Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land”. Home Drama (15),49-50.

“Woman’s Works by a female director: Study of Sally Cookson’s Jane Eyre”. Home Drama (02),50-51.

“A preliminary study on the educational drama in China in the context of comprehensively promoting quality education”. Home Drama (24),53-54.

“Drama, performance, teaching: Thinking on the 7th China Alliance of Theatre Higher Educational Institutes”. Literature Life. (02),233-234.

Conferences

Hamlet’s Gender-Fluid Body in Performance. BritGrad Annual Conference & IFTR, 2024.

Hamlet’s Body Desires in Chinese Performance: Study of Lin Zhaohua’s ‘Hamlet’. CHINOPERL & AAS Annual Conference, Seattle, USA, 2024.

Social Responsibility in Theatre: Review of the 2023 Festival d’ Avignon. Forum for International Drama Criticism Program, Shanghai, China, 2023.

A Study of Stan Lai’s theatre structure. The 1st International Symposium on the Study of Stan Lai’s Theatre Works, Nanjing, China, 2022.

Stan Lai’s Creation and Production. The 7th Workshop of Graduate Students in Art of three universities in Nanjing, Nanjing, China, 2022.

Theatre Practice

Dramaturg & Producer & Actor, Go to the Glass House 

Funded by the China National Arts Fund programme, £86,000

Touring at the 75th Festival d’Avignon, France, July 2023 & Edinburgh Fringe Festive, UK, August 2024 & Universities in China

Producer, Unknown Night

An award-winning production of the Wuzhen Theatre Festival, China

Touring at the 2024 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, UK, August 2024

Director & Producer & Dramaturg, Three Comedies by Ding Xilin

Warwick Arts Centre, Theatre, UK, February 2024

Playwright & Leading Actor, International Ideal Unites the Human Race 

Supported by the Nanjing Art Fund, Jiangsu Province (£10,000)

the Best Organization Award in the Jiangsu Provincial Theatre and Sketch Competition

the Outstanding Contributor of Drama China 2021

Toured in universities in China, 2021

Leading Actor, Heart Chain 

First prize in the 15th China Creative Challenges Contest

Third prize in the Academy Award of the 1st Chinese Collegial Association for Visual Art, 2021

Playwright & Leading Actor, My Father Qu Qiubai  

Theatre Unit Drama Award in the Jiangsu Province Zijin Cultural Arts Festival, 2021

Director & Playwright & Leading Actor, Ninety-nine 

Special prize in the Jiangsu province Shuishan Cup student theatre exhibition

Best Script Award for original one-act play for the professional group in the Shuishan Cup, 2021

Assistant Director, Blossoming 

Special prize in the Jiangsu province Shuishan Cup student theatre exhibition, 2021

Independent project, Daydream 

Supported by the Jiangsu Province Postgraduate Practice Innovation Program (£900)

Performed at the Jiangsu Centre for the Performing Arts, Nanjing, China, 2021.

Teaching Experiences

Teaching Certificate: Higher Education Teacher Qualification Certificate, China

Communication University of China, Nanjing (Full-time since 2022, as Lecture & Mentor)

Courses: Acting, Directing, Voice and Speech through Text, Chinese and Western Theatre History, Text and Performance Analysis.

Southeast University, Nanjing, China (Part-time Lecture, 2021-2023)

Courses: Acting, Directing

Nanjing University of the Arts, Nanjing, China (Teaching Assistant, 2019-2022)

Courses: Acting

Organization

Member of the Chinese Theatre Literature Association, China

Member of the British Shakespeare Association, UK

Member of the Shakespeare Association of America, USA

Funding

2023/4 HRF £800

2022 China National Scholarship £2,200

Warwick PhD Scholarship

Education

BA & MA: Nanjing University of the Arts, Nanjing, China

Major: Directing & Acting

Ps: Nature-loving adventurer! Join me if you’re up for hiking, climbing, and chasing sunsets!