ORCiD: 0000 - 0001 - 9163 - 6845

My Research:

I am a part-time, post-graduate student in the Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies. The core subject of my thesis is an examination of the twenty-first century theatre practice of women playing traditionally male-gendered roles in Shakespeare. I am interested in why, in the space of twenty years, this practice has gone from being considered gimmick casting to a form of playing that is now standard practice in British theatre. What is it about female cross-gender casting that has drawn theatre practitioners to its employment, and what effect has non-traditional casting had upon the reading of the Shakespeare text in performance?

My interests are in Shakespeare in performance; theatre practice and theory; early modern theatre; writing for performance, and pedagogy. I hold an M.A. (Distinction) in Shakespeare and Theatre from the Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham, 2012 as well as a P.G.C.E. (Secondary) in English with Drama from Cambridge University.

Between 2013 and 2019 I was the lead organizer for Sidelights on Shakespeare, a series of interdisciplinary research seminars sponsored by the Humanities Research Centre, University of Warwick.

http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/english/currentstudents/postgraduate/shakespeareresearchseminar

Publications and Conference Papers

To be published, September 2023:

'Closer to being grown up than ever before': Theatre as a site of passage in children's fiction.

In Routledge Companion to Theatre-Fiction

Published 2023:

'The Migrant Shakespeare Project: the actor as 'other': Book 2:0 Vol 12

Issue 2, published December 2022 by Intellect Publishing.

Published 2022:

'From Gimmick Casting to Standard Practice: Re-gendering Shakespeare in Performance', inAnalysing Gender in Performance, edited by J. Paul Halferty and Cathy Leeney, published by Palgrave Macmillan,

Interview with Dr Nora Williams (University of Essex), 'Claudio Must Die: Teaching Shakespeare in the Twenty-first Century' for the BSA magazine, Teaching Shakespeare 19 https://www.britishshakespeare.ws/education/teaching-shakespeare/Link opens in a new window

'Infinite Variety: Older Actresses on Stage 1600 - Present', two day conference held at Christ Church, University of Oxford, 18/19 October 2019, to which I contributed a short paper, "It was like being a concert pianist forbidden to open the lid of the piano": Dame Harriet Walter on Being an Older Shakespearean Actor'.

Shakespeare Festival Theatre Conference 2019, Stratford Ontario: The theme of this year's conference was 'Festival and Festivity' to which I contributed a twenty minute paper, 'If Music be the Food of Love, Play on,': Twelfth Night the Musical featuring Emma Rice as Queen of Misrule'.

'Teaching Early Modern Drama': Shakespeare and Education, a one-day symposium for Sidelights on Shakespeare (sponsored by the HRC) held on the 4th May 2019. Keynote speakers included Professor Alison Hindlay (Lancaster); Dr Peter Kirwaun (Nottingham); Dr Sarah Olive (York) and Dr Nora Williams (Essex).

British Shakespeare Association Conference, Belfast, 2018, on 4th June 2018 I gave a short paper 'Re-Gendering Shakespeare in Performance'.

'Representing Gender in the North: 1945 to the Present Day', University of Shefield conference, 23rd May 2018, my paper was entitled 'A Popular Prince at the People's Palace in the North: Maxine Peake as Hamlet'.

'The Expert and the Craftsperson: Shakespeare and Performance', a conference for Sidelights on Shakespeare (sponsored by the HRC) held on 17th February 2016. Keynote speakers included Dr Stephen Purcell (Warwick); Dr Jaq Bessell (Guildford School of Acting); Tim Supple, Theatre Director and Professor Tony Howard (Warwick).

‘Theatre Inside-out: cross-dressing and female empowerment’, for the journal Planet No 219, Autumn 2015, pp75 – 78.
Podcast also available on the website: http://www.planetmagazine.org.uk

Review of The Feminist Spectator in Action: Feminist Criticism for the Stage and Screen, by Jill Dolan, (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013), for Platform the Post-Graduate Journal of Theatre Arts published by Royal Holloway College, University of London, Vol 8, No2: Theatre Politics, Autumn 2014.
https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/dramaandtheatre/documents/pdf/platform/82/platform82-bookreviews.pdf

'Fiona, Phyllida and the F-word: the Theatrical Practice(s) of Women Playing the Male Roles in Shakespeare', for Exchanges, the Warwick Research Journal, Vol I, Issue 2, April 2014.
http://journals.sfu.ca/exchanges/index.php/exchanges/issue/view/2

'Cross-gender Cast Women: The Donmar's 2012/13, All-Female Julius Caesar.' Conference paper presented at BritGrad 2013, The Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham.

'Theatre as Exegesis: the 1995-6, Warner/Shaw Production of Richard II', in the initial issue of Exegesis, the post-graduate journal of English Studies published by Royal Holloway College, University of London.
http://exegesis-journal.org

Programme Notes for Much Ado About Nothing, directed by Charlie Walker-Wise for the Ludlow Theatre Festival, Summer 2012.

A Little Bit About Me:

I currently live in Aberystwyth where I am employed as a member of the Creative Learning Team at Aberystwyth Arts Centre. Initially I trained for the theatre but I began my career at HTV Cymru/Wales before moving to the BBC where I worked in both television and radio production. I have, however, spent most of my working life in theatre. I have taught theatre practice to all ages, most recently to under-graduates at Aberystwyth University. I am a published playwright, poet and short-story writer.

I am proud to be both a member of Equity and Homerton College, University of Cambridge.

Stephanie Tillotson

S dot A dot Tillotson at warwick dot ac dot uk