Dr Chris Megson

My research focuses on British theatre since 1968 and on the broader territory of ‘theatres of actuality’ around the world, ranging from nineteenth-century Naturalism to contemporary documentary performance. I've recently published The Methuen Drama Book of Naturalist Plays (2010) and Get Real: Documentary Theatre Past and Present (co-edited with Alison Forsyth; Palgrave, 2009; paperback edn with new preface, 2011). The latter is the first book to investigate the upsurge of documentary, verbatim and tribunal theatres over the past two decades, and it has received positive reviews around the world. 

My research on post-war theatre has focused on the 1960s and 1970s although I've written articles and chapters on a broad range of topics, including theatre censorship, the Situationist influence on British playwriting, and theatrical responses to the Cold War and the war in Iraq. I've published widely on the playwrights who emerged in the late 60s including Howard Brenton, David Edgar, David Hare and, especially, Howard Barker. My book Decades of Modern British Playwriting - the 1970s (Methuen Drama, 2012) includes fresh critical perspectives and new resources pertaining to the theatre of that complex, fascinating decade. Following from this work, I've written commissioned chapters on the 'memory plays' of Harold Pinter, and the work/legacy of Portable Theatre (my research for the latter focused on the Arts Council archives).

My current research addresses the 'metaphysical turn' in contemporary playwriting and performance, specifically the idea of 'postsecular' theatricalities. I'm interested in how recent theatrical performance has negotiated questions of belief and faith in ways that reach beyond established ideological, secularist or religious discourses. I've been exploring the work of Lucy Prebble, Mike Bartlett, Dennis Kelly and David Greig (amongst others) and have written a chapter on this topic for Vicky Angelaki's Contemporary British Theatre: Breaking New Ground (in press, Palgrave, 2013). My monograph on Sarah Kane (for Routledge) also articulates with these interests and will be completed in 2013.

I'm a member of the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Peer Review College, and have also reviewed for Canada's Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Australian Research Council. I’m a member of the Backpages editorial team for Contemporary Theatre Review, have reviewed regularly for many academic journals and publishers, and am currently External Examiner for theatre courses at Birkbeck College. 

I’m a member of Equity and have been involved in actors’ companies that specialise in the application of role-play techniques in training contexts, including in UK prisons. I also run workshops for theatre and education professionals: e.g. in 2008, supported by the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs and the Saison Foundation, I travelled to Tokyo to work with directors, actors and teachers on Stanislavsky and Brecht. I'm a Board member and trustee of Love&Madness, a wonderful touring company that specialises in the inventive reinterpretation of classic texts.

I welcome enquiries from prospective research students who are interested in topics that articulate in some way with the areas outlined above. I've supervised or co-supervised a range of PhD students to successful completion of their projects, a number of whom have since been appointed to university lectureships. I'm an experienced External Examiner of doctoral theses.

My admin roles are currently Director of MA Programmes and Deputy Head of the Department.