Theresa Spielmann

MA by Research (2021 - 2022)

Supervisor: Prof. Silvija Jestrovic

ABOUT ME

Theresa graduated from the BA Theatre Studies programme at Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich in 2020. Outside her studies she worked in theatre and film as an assistant director. Before starting her studies at Warwick, she co-directed an international conference on climate change, organised by Büro Grandezza in Munich.

RESEARCH

Theresa’s MA research revolves around posthumanist theatre within the rapidly growing landscape of theatre about climate change. It seeks to find and analyse aesthetics that leave anthropocentrism and human exceptionalism behind, by including non-human actants. The focus lies upon aesthetics and forms that are world-building rather than a repetitive reproduction of aboutism and unproductive narratives of climate change. The research is based on performances that expand the limits of the inherently anthropocentric medium theatre, while exploring and applying theories and methods of critical posthumanism and agential realism.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Posthumanism and theatre
Contemporary political performances
Portrayal of climate change in theatre and performance
Avant-garde theatre and performance

PAST AND CURRENT PROJECTS

Co-Director of “The 2051 Munich Climate Conference” (2021) – An academic conference of the future, created by artists. Co-Editor of the upcoming edited volume "The 2051 Munich Climate Conference: Future Visions of Climate Change" (2023).

Paper presentation “Planttheatre” at “Le théatre, un laboratoire de comportements écologiques” (2020, virtual), hosted by Eliane Beaufils, Eva Holling, Barbara Bonnefoy and Oulmann Zerhouni.

“Planttheatre – a posthumanist performance in times of climate change” (2020) – Undergraduate dissertation, supervised by Prof. Dr. Andreas Englhart at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich.