The Historical Theatre Research Group consists of researchers of diverse disciplines working at the research institute Amsterdam School of Historical Studies of the University of Amsterdam, as well as external members. The group is open to collaborations with other research groups and individual researchers interested in the topic.

 

The aim of the research group is to formulate new ways of approaching historical theatre and drama research, combining diverse research fields.

 

To place drama texts and reconstructed performances in a historical time and analyze social, religious, cultural, legal, gender-related or political discourses of the time, an interdisciplinary framework combined with the strength of disciplinary knowledge is needed. Bringing together different methodological expertises and geographical and linguistic specializations, this research group aims to strengthen such an interdisciplinary approach to historical theatre research.

 

The goal of the research group is to facilitate and stimulate

1. an exchange of information about specific historical theatre texts and performance practices, and

2. a collaboration regarding questions of historiogra-phical methodologies that combine text and performance and that shed light on processes of knowledge production through theatrical practices.

 

Group meetings take place on a regularly basis: in addition to discussing theoretical texts of importance to the field, the individual researchers discuss their projects within the group, opening up possibilities of new angles and approaches. Several members of the group work on joined projects like edited volumes or drama text editions.

 

On the topic of "Text, Performance, and Production of Knowledge" there was a national workshop organised in 2015, as well as a joined international conference in January 2017, which was followed by a publication in 2021.

In 2019, the research group engaged in the joint project "La vida es sueño", which brought together different expertises and research angles on Pedro Calderón de la Barca's "Life is a Dream". A symposium was organized in October 2019.

Currently the research group is working on the publication of a handbook on Historical Theatre Research, which will be published by Brill.

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Research on historical theatre provides society with a rich knowledge about its cultural heritage and sheds light on cultural practices of the past. The interdisciplinary approach, moreover, shows how cultural practices were closely intertwined with political, sociological, legal or religious questions. The description of these processes of knowledge production through theatrical practices helps us to understand the way in which culture functions within a complex system of interrelated discourses of a specific time – be it historical or contemporary.