Research
Shilpa is currently undertaking a part-time PhD at the Royal Conservatoire Scotland and St Andrews University. She has a background in English Literature and Theatre Studies and her research is practice-based combining her theatre directing and dramaturgical practice, and knowledge of the theatre industry with her research.
PhD Research - Talking to Ghosts: the Twenty-First Century History Play
This PhD research asks: how can history-play making practices be contextualised by the meeting points of historiography, performance studies and reenactment studies? Responding to this context, how can the processes of creating 21st century history-plays in the UK be developed to foster a self-reflexive, intersectional, empathetic, and critical relationship with history?
Ultimately, the aim is to present a contextual framework for the history-play which connects what theatre-makers do to the wider production of historical knowledge, and a set of practical strategies that can be applied to any new history-play to encourage theatre-makers to ask ethical and historiographic questions of their work, while celebrating the unique potenials of the history-play form.
Get in touch: if you are a UK based theatre practitioner who has worked on a new play produced post 2000, and based on a historical figure or event, and you would be interested in participating in an interview or questionnaire for this research, please get in touch below to receive more information.