Community theatre, school plays, and other examples of performances by non-professional actors don’t often don’t get a lot of respect or scholarly attention. David Coates, who’s in the closing stages of his doctorate at the University of Warwick, is trying to change that. He’s one of a growing group of scholars who are reassessing amateur theatre (in his case, specifically in Britain in the long nineteenth century, 1789-1914) and finding that its history is far more complex and interesting than we’d previously assumed.

Links:

• Listen to and watch a lecture by David Coates, given for the Society for Theatre Research.
• Learn more about Chatsworth House, where David’s research on amateur theatricals began.

• If you are interested to hear more about David’s research, or have some information you’d like to share with him, please contact him on D.J.Coates@warwick.ac.uk or connect with him on Twitter at @DavidJCoates.

You can subscribe to this series via Apple iTunes, Google Play Music, or RSS Feed or just click on the link below to listen: