Theatre in Towns

Theatre in Towns offers a contemporary perspective on the role of theatre in the cultural life of towns in England. Exploring volunteer-led, professional and community theatres, this book investigates the rich and diverse ways that theatres in towns serve their locality and connect audiences beyond their geographical borders.

Helen Nicholson is Professor of Theatre and Performance at Royal Holloway, University of London, UK. Her research addresses theatre in community settings, often focusing on theatre in places that are overlooked. She has published widely on applied theatre, theatre education, amateur theatre and participatory arts.

Jenny Hughes is Professor of Drama at the University of Manchester, UK. Her research engages with the intersections of socially-engaged performance, economic justice and social change agendas, and activist art. She has published on theatre and performance in relation to socio-economic inequality, protest events, histories of welfare and political emergency.

Gemma Edwards is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the University of Manchester, UK. Her work focuses on place, politics, and performance, particularly in non-metropolitan contexts. She has published on rurality in contemporary theatre, and her next project explores race, class, and English nationhood from 1945 to the present.

Cara Gray was a postdoctoral researcher on the Civic Theatres: A Place for Towns project, at Royal Holloway, University of London, UK. She is an interdisciplinary researcher whose work sits across theatre and performance and cultural geography. Past research has explored the cultural geographies of amateur creativity: publishing on the spaces, materialities, and creative processes of backstage theatre-makers, specifically set-builders.