Dr Cristina Delgado-Garcia
- Lecturer in Theatre and Performance (Theatre, Film & Television Studies)
telephone:
0141 3302746
email:
Cristina.DelgadoGarcia@glasgow.ac.uk
pronouns:
She/her/hers
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7659-6774Biography
I joined the Theatre Studies team at Glasgow in 2018, having previously worked at the University of Birmingham, the University of Leeds and Manchester Metropolitan University. I hold a PhD in Theatre Studies (Aberystwyth) and a Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice (Birmingham), and I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
Originally from Barcelona, Spain, I arrived to theatre scholarship enjoying the scenic route. I completed a BA in Journalism and a BA in English Philology (both at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) and an MA in Post-1900s Literatures, Theories and Cultures (Manchester). My first professional experiences were in supporting the organisation and delivery of international music festivals and, later, in the radio as a DJ, arts magazine programme host and broadcast journalist (news editor, presenter and producer). This academic and professional background was crucial in the development of my research interests in dramatic histories and new developments, contemporary experimental theatre in dialogue with other visual and performing arts, and the relationship of both to current affairs. These continue to be at the heart of my research.
Research interests
My research specialism is in contemporary British/European theatre since 1990 and its relationship to political and philosophical questions pertinent to our socio-historical conjuncture. Much of my research has focused on politically-motivated theatres, but I am also keen to find the political elsewhere in theatre-making. My recent publications and conference presentations have explored the ways in which theatre articulates and anticipates forms of resistance to – or indeed compliance with – hegemonic ideology. I have written on contemporary theatre and queer identities, collective agency, dissident understandings of time, the dramaturgical uses of consensus and consent, ecology, and theatrical visions of democracy.
Following the publication of my first monograph, Rethinking Character in Contemporary British Theatre: Aesthetics, Politics, Subjectivity (2015), I co-edited the collection Affects in 21st-Century British Theatre: Exploring Feeling on Page and Stage (2021) with Prof Mireia Aragay (Barcelona) and Prof Martin Middeke (Augsburg/Johannesburg). This was the first output of an international research project entitled "British Theatre in the Twenty-First Century: Crisis, Affect, Community", led by Prof Aragay and funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and the European Regional Development Fund. My next research project focuses on British theatre-maker Tim Crouch, on which I am preparing a monograph for Manchester University Press.
Grants
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2017-2020: “British theatre in the twenty-first century: crisis, affect, community”. Role: Co-investigator. Principal Investigator: Prof Mireia Aragay (Barcelona). Funding bodies: Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad; European Regional Development Fund. Funds: €50,000.
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2014: “Representations of precariousness in contemporary British theatre”. Role: Co-investigator. Principal Investigator: Prof Martin Middeke (Augsburg). Funding body: German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). Funds: €6,690.
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2013-2016: “Ethical issues in contemporary British theatre since 1989: globalisation, theatricality, spectatorship”. Role: Co-investigator. Principal Investigator: Prof Mireia Aragay (Barcelona). Funding body: Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad. Funds: €62,000.
Supervision
I very much welcome enquiries from potential PhD students interested in pursuing their project at the University of Glasgow focusing on any of these fields:
- Contemporary playwriting, theatre and performance in Britain.
- Contemporary European theatre and performance.
- Political theatres, socially-engaged theatre practice and delegated performance.
- Theatre and political/cultural theory.
You can email me to discuss your project at Cristina.DelgadoGarcia@glasgow.ac.uk.
I am currently co-supervising two PhD projects.
The first examines engagement, participation and social impact in (post)pandemic Scottish theatre and is a Collaborative Doctoral Award in partnership with the National Theatre of Scotland.
The second is a practice-research project exploring new approaches to studying, creating and publishing performance work that straddles and exceeds the traditions of dramatic playwriting and live art.
- Green, Nic
Theatre Without Walls: Rethinking Engagement, Participation and Social Impact in (Post)Pandemic Scottish Theatre
I have supervised one PhD project to completion on documentary strategies in contemporary theatre and performance (University of Birmingham).
I also supervised a visiting doctoral candidate (Universitat de Barcelona) on a project researching queerness, terror and contemporary British theatre (2019).
In addition to this, I have examined four PhDs, nationally and internationally.
Teaching
In the academic year 2024-25, I teach in and/or convene the following courses:
- Reading the Stage (Level 1)
- Theatre and Society (Level 1)
- Performance Theory and Analysis (Level 4)
- Theatre Studies Dissertation (Level 4)
- 21st Century Theatre in Britain: New Writing in Context (Level 4, Convenor)
- 21st Century Theatre in Britain: New Writing in Context (MLitt, Convenor)
- Scottish Theatre: Place, Politics and Practices (MLitt)
- Playwriting 1 (MLitt, convenor)
- Playwriting 2 (MLitt, convenor)
- Contemporary Dramaturgical Practices (MLitt, convenor)
- Individual Research Project (MLitt, convenor)
Additional information
Roles at the University of Glasgow, 2024-25
- PGR convenor for the School of Culture and Creative Arts
- MLitt Playwriting & Dramaturgy convenor
Current and recent external roles
- Editorial board member for the Playwriting and the Contemporary: Critical Collaborations series at Liverpool University Press (2023 - present). Series editors: Siân Adiseshiah, Jacqueline Bolton, Nicholas Holden and Chris Megson.
- Co-convenor of the Political Performances Working Group of the International Federation for Theatre Research (2018-2022).
- External Examiner for the MA Theatre and MRes Performing Arts at the University of Lincoln (2019-2022).
- Reviews Editor for the journal Performing Ethos (2018-2022).
Conference co-organisation & facilitation
- Co-convenorship and curation of the Political Performances Working Group sessions for the annual IFTR congress, with Prof Trish Reid and Dr Julia Boll:
- Shifting Centres (In the Middle of Nowhere) (Reykjavík, July 2022)
- Theatre Ecologies: Environments, Sustainability, and Politics (Galway, July 2021)
- Theatre, Performance and Urbanism (Shanghai Theatre Academy, July 2019)
- Theatre and Migration (Belgrade, July 2018).
- Shifting Centres (In the Middle of Nowhere) (Reykjavík, July 2022)
- Co-facilitator of two workshops on theatre and democracy, with Lucy Ellinson, Dr Aneta Mancewicz and Chris Thorpe. Radical Mischief: A Conference Inviting Experiment in Theatre, Thought and Politics. The Other Place, RSC. Stratford-Upon-Avon. July 2018.
- Co-organiser of the Standing Conference of University Drama Departments (SCUDD), with Dr Caroline Radcliffe and Dr Paul Geary. University of Birmingham. June 2018.
- Co-organiser of the 24th annual conference of the German Society for Contemporary Theatre and Drama in English (CDE), with Prof Mireia Aragay and Dr Enric Monforte. Theatre and Spectatorship. University of Barcelona. June 2015.
Keynotes and invited research seminars
- Inaugural lecture. 'The centre cannot hold: research in the arts and humanities towards a sustaining future'. Cultural Identities PGR symposium. Universitat de Barcelona, Nov 2023.
- Invited talk. 'Approaching theatrical character against anthropocentric cultural orientations'. Cambridge Graduate Drama and Performance Seminar. University of Cambridge, March 2023.
- Keynote presentation. '"Birth me in reverse": Returning to character otherwise'. Resisting Theatre: Plays, Politics and the Academy. Royal Holloway University of London and University of York, June 2021.
- Invited research seminars. 'Labours Lost: Delegated Performance and the Work of Erasure'. University of Lincoln, December 2017; University of Reading, November 2017.
- Keynote presentation. 'The Work of Others: Delegated Performance, the Workers and Their Double'. Theatre, Performance & Employment symposium. Queen Mary, University of London. February 2017.
Conversations and public engagement
- Invited speaker. Different Stages research showcase event, part of 'Different Stages: Exploring public engagement for Drama and Theatre early career academics', a British Academy-funded project run by Dr Naomi Paxton. Glasgow Women’s Library, January 2020.
