darbyk

SENIOR LECTURER IN DRAMA AND PERFORMANCE STUDIES

I hold a degree in Drama and Theatre Studies from Aberystwyth University as well as a Masters in Drama Research and PhD in Drama from the University of Exeter. My doctoral thesis was concerned with theatre and site-based performances that place emphasis on the action of walking.

My subsequent research examined the prominence of walking in performer training and the use of the journey motif in theatre, labyrinths and video games. Walking continues to underpin my current research and practice as a sound artist, exploring the possibilities of empathy through binaural field recordings.


Teaching Specialisms:

  • Pedestrian performance
  • Modern European Drama
  • Avant-Garde Theatre
  • Performance technologies

School Roles:

  • Programme Lead for Drama and Performance
  • Academic Committee

Recent Publications:

  • Bordering the Sacred: the Labyrinth as Non-Site (2021) In: Battista, S. ed. The Performances of Sacred Places: Crossing, Breathing, Resisting, Bristol: Intellect, pp. 47-66.
  • 'Coding and hacking: a performance score' (2019) Theatre, Dance and Performance Training, 10, p. 205.
  • "When it Comes, the Landscape Listens" Listening as Place Through Binaural Sound (2017), Invisible Places
  • Treading the Boards: the Significance of Walking on the Stage (2014), New Theatre Quarterly,

Recent Works:

  • Return to the Green (2024), Material Matters
  • Horizontal Offset (2018), Capstone Theatre
  • If Walls Could Hear (2014-)

Boards/Networks:

  • Walking Artists Network 
  • Chair of the board of trustees for C&T Applied Theatre Company