CPAD Research Environment

Interdisciplinary research covers Participatory Arts and Socially Engaged Performance, Performative Landscapes, Sound Art, and Creative Writing.

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Interdisciplinary research covers Participatory Arts and Socially Engaged Performance, Performative Landscapes, Sound Art, and Creative Writing.

CPAD Research Environment

We specialise in several areas of performance and creative practice, including inter- and intra-cultural performance, site-specific practices, conflict management, and walking practices.

Performing arts and research at the University of East London

Our commitment to growth in performance and practice-based research is evident in the new, multi-million-pound Performing Arts and Media Centre at University Square Stratford. This facility strengthens our long-standing partnerships with key organisations such as East London Dance, Stratford Circus, Stratford Rising, and Theatre Royal Stratford East, which have been in place since 2005.

Our interdisciplinary research is organised into four main groups:

  • Participatory arts and socially engaged performance
  • Performative landscapes
  • Sound art
  • Creative writing

Community engagement and international collaboration

True Heart Theatre Company, our resident theatre company, is linked to the Theatre Studies programme and is based at UEL. True Heart uses Playback Theatre to build communities and foster international collaborations. The artistic director, Veronica Needa, is a regular guest lecturer and organises public performances for the UK Chinese community.

Our collaborations with True Heart have helped us develop strong research connections with the Chinese community, including an intercultural performance symposium with playwright David Henry Hwang for the London premiere of his play, Golden Child, in October 2013.

We are actively building international networks through projects like the Walking Artists Network (funded by the AHRC), the Festival Route BR-116, and the DRIFT International Residency (funded by the Arts Council and British Council). We also strengthen our national networks with initiatives like the Arts Council-funded tour of Guantanamo Boy, which aims to reach new audiences.

Our researchers have showcased their work at prestigious events, including the Cultural Olympiad, Hayward Gallery, London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT), and the London 2012 Festival. We partner with institutions like the National Theatre Wales and the British Museum and have extended our practices to NGOs and international organisations like Action Aid, IREX, and UNICEF.

These public-facing events and partnerships are central to our research environment, offering valuable engagement with the creative industries and emphasising community-focused knowledge exchange.

Exemplary research projects

Some examples of our notable practice-as-research projects include:

  • Ramos's production of Hotel Medea, a night-long performance of Euripides' Medea that incorporated Brazilian carnival, capoeira, cyber-performance, and site-specific elements, including a boat trip on the Thames.
  • Castelyn's work explores post-apartheid nationalism and the impact of AIDS/HIV on gendered bodies through her choreography and autobiographical performances as a South African.
  • Sotelo's project extended intercultural performance to the cartographies of walking in Bogotá, Colombia, creating a space for indigenous and international narratives to meet through autobiographical storytelling.

All of these practices generate knowledge centred on themes of cultural locatedness and participatory art.

Research Strategy

We've developed a new strategy that blends the concepts of cultural locatedness and participatory art practices. This approach is integrated across several disciplines, including:

Examples include:

  • The application of conflict management practices from research in post-genocide Rwanda
  • The development of participatory practices in Kyrgyzstan and Indonesia based on the use of local cultural forms to address conflict issues (Breed)
  • The development of sensory sound technology to recreate the architecture and environment of heritage sites (Chapman), and
  • The exploration of local sites like launderettes and town halls to serve a site-responsive locations for contemporary storytelling and oral culture (Qualmann).

Our unit's research and practice have expanded to connect performance and philosophy. This includes launching a Palgrave book series in November 2013 and collaborating on several national and international conferences. For example, we co-hosted the inaugural conference for the Performance Philosophy research association, "What is Performance Philosophy: Staging a New Field," at the University of Surrey from April 11-13.

We are actively developing national and international networks to expand our influence and create unique interdisciplinary performance practices. Our researchers are at the forefront of their fields, as demonstrated by their involvement and achievements:

  • Editorial Boards: Our experts serve on the editorial boards for publications like the South African Dance Journal (Castelyn) and the Screenwriting Journal (Nelmes).

  • Conference Leadership: They act as convenors for major colloquiums, including TaPRA Theatre, Performance and Philosophy, and the Performance Philosophy Research Association (Katsouraki).

  • Prestigious Awards: Our researchers have received significant accolades, such as the Golden Nica Prix Arts Electronica in Digital Music (Thomas) and an Edinburgh Fringe Festival award (Lopes).

Research Groups

Our four research groups unite diverse and innovative projects centred on cultural locatedness and participatory art practices. These groups are:

Participatory Arts and Socially Engaged Performance:  This research group investigates the cultural, political, and practical uses of the performing arts. Our work in this area focuses on how performance can be a tool for community building and social change.

International Applications: 

  • Conflict Resolution: Breed's research applies drama to conflict resolution in international settings like Rwanda, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. 

  • Cultural Exchange: Argade's dance tours with the Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company, supported by organisations like the British Council, explore concepts of public space and community in various Indian cities. 

  • Post-Apartheid Identity: Castelyn uses dance to examine issues of body and identity within the post-apartheid political and national context of South Africa.

Locatedness, Audience, and Technology: Our research also explores the concept of "locatedness" in different environments. Hingorani's work, for example, focuses on Asian theatre in Britain, while Sotelo's research examines how subjectivity, place, and memory are connected through walking.

A key theme is the relationship between performer and audience. Ramos's research challenges the boundaries of traditional theatre by disrupting the performance space and actively involving the audience in the play. Hingorani's work also draws in non-traditional audiences, engaging them as actors, writers, and viewers, a project that has received significant funding from Arts Council England.

Additional work in this area includes:

  • Breed's research with the gacaca courts of Rwanda looks at how performance and audience participation can change entrenched positions and relationships.
  • Susanne Thomas's theatrical and choreographic work, which explores the connection between performance, technology, site, and audience, often making innovative use of social media.
  • Katsouraki's research uses drama theories to reflect on the historical and political dimensions of theatrical performance and broader aesthetic and philosophical questions.

Our Sound Art group is comprised of innovative musicians and electronic artists who focus on experimenting with sound and its relationship to space.

A key theme in this group is exploring the possibilities of live performance in various environments. The work of Harries and Thomas is particularly significant, as they create site-specific performances and installations in a range of venues, including art galleries.

Other research in this area includes:

  • Cawkwell's recordings, which explore the capabilities of electronic sound.

  • Chapman's art installations, which often reuse natural sounds recorded in their original locations.

Jo Thomas, one of our artists, has received several accolades for her work, including:

  • Nominations for her piece, Crystal, at the ISMC World Music Day and for Quartz for Alpha E82.

  • A Net Audio Award, Public Vote for Alpha Live.

  • A spot on the top ten music list for Nature of Habit on a-musik.

Thomas also created the public art project Amber, a commission for the Be Open Sound Portal in Trafalgar Square. This work was presented to an audience of over one million people in September 2012.

Performative Landscapes: This group expands concepts of audience and participation into community-based arts through the practice of walking. Our research emphasises the idea of agency by mapping physical landscapes and geographic spaces. We lead walks that uncover memories, narratives, and histories that are often overlooked in dominant historical accounts.

The performance and research practices developed by colleagues like Qualmann and Sotelo have helped build relationships with various public practices and disciplines. We collaborate with ecologists, geographers, historians, archaeologists, architects, and even recreational walkers to create a radical and engaging way of experiencing space and place.

The Creative Writing group explores a range of "text as performance" practices. For example, Atkins publicly read the poem 'I Love the Rich' at the UK Parliament as part of the Pussy Riot and the Art of Political Protest conference and book launch.

Atkins also established Onedit in 2000, an online journal that is now on its 17th issue. The journal has published work by internationally renowned, award-winning authors like Alice Notley and Jackson Mac Low, as well as new British writers. The British Library archives Onedit as an "online journal of merit," and it has a strong reputation for both its content and design among readers across the USA, Canada, the UK, Australia, and Europe. While Atkins's work explores the poetic limits of translation, McWatt’s novel Vital Signs focuses on practice-led research into narrative voice and the boundaries of the text-based novel. Nelmes, meanwhile, develops a critique of screenplay writing through a series of monographs, articles, and practice-based projects that use archival materials from the British Film Institute (BFI).

Community, Transformation, and Outreach

Our research is committed to using performance as a tool for transformation, with a focus on community participation, ethics, social inequality, and cultural politics. We communicate our findings widely through academic publications and various other channels. Our researchers have hosted several conferences, including:

  • The East End Seen Through Performance (2009)
  • Archiving for the Future: using archives to enhance learning and teaching in drama and theatre studies (2010)
  • Teaching Popular Dance in Higher Education (2010)
  • Making Theatre for Young Audiences (2011)

One of our founding projects, the East London Theatre Archive (ELTA), later evolved into the Clustering and Enhancing Digital Archives for Research (CEDAR) project. Together, these initiatives provided free online access to a digitised archive of over 20,000 materials—including playbills, scripts, and photos—from East London theatres like Hoxton Hall and Theatre Royal Stratford East. UEL was awarded £500,000 from JISC for ELTA and £250,000 for CEDAR, making these resources available to artists, historians, students, and the public.

We engage the public through more than just theatrical performance; we also use online resources, workshops, art installations, and site-specific performances. By publishing our work in both academic and non-academic venues, we contribute to the public dissemination of knowledge on a national and international scale. We are committed to producing high-quality individual research while also delivering collaborative and practice-based projects that provide new and innovative ways to create, critique, and interact with cultural materials.

Collaborations and contributions

We effectively collaborate with partners both nationally and internationally. This includes established staff and student exchange programmes with:

Our modules and research often involve working directly with specific locations and archival sources, such as Hackney Empire, Hoxton Hall, Half Moon Young People's Theatre, and Theatre Royal Stratford East. g Hackney Empire, Hoxton Hall, Half Moon Young People's Theatre, and Theatre Royal Stratford East. 

Our researchers have earned international recognition through several prestigious fellowships.  Breed was awarded a fellowship with the Interweaving Performance Cultures centre at Freie University, Berlin. Similarly, Nelmes received an AHRC Fellowship to develop a monograph using archival materials from the British Film Institute (BFI).

Additionally, we're extending best practices within the creative industries through artist-led approaches. Lopes facilitated an international collaboration between artists and technologists from Brazil and the UK, enabling them to develop performance and installation ideas in a cooperative environment.

We work with a diverse range of partners, both formally and informally, through various collaborations. These can range from large-scale projects like the two-year, JISC-funded "Online Theatre Histories Archive" to individual events, such as a masterclass with a professional partner like Kerry Michael, the Director at Theatre Royal Stratford East.

Many of our partnerships extend across teaching, practice, and research, giving us multiple ways to collaborate. A great example of this is our relationship with Half Moon Young People's Theatre.

With them, we've:

  • Co-delivered both undergraduate and postgraduate courses.

  • Successfully bid for the JISC Online Theatre Histories Archive project.

  • Used their space for rehearsals, performances, and as a base for community arts projects.

Our unit makes a broad contribution to the field through a variety of practices. Our work includes journal articles, guest editorships, monographs, and teaching resources, as well as international practice, performance-based research, and collaborative research bids.

Our researchers are highly regarded, as evidenced by their publications with prestigious presses such as Duke University, Intellect, Palgrave, Routledge, and Edinburgh University.

Our staff have travelled globally to deliver book tours, keynote lectures, theatre and music performances, and workshops. Our researchers hold influential and respected positions, including:

  • Membership on the AHRC Peer Review College

  • Executive of the Standing Conference of Drama Departments (SCUDD)

  • Working Group Chair for the Theatre & Performance Research Association (TaPRA)

Many of our staff serve as external examiners and advisors. More recently, we have also taken on consultancy roles for projects centred on theatre and young people.

Collaborative seminars

We regularly run seminars, workshops, and symposia with colleagues from other universities and partner organisations.

Examples:

  • Participatory Arts, Patronage, and the Post Olympics: In June 2013, Sotelo, Aoife Monks, and Adrianne Marquez hosted this symposium at Stratford Circus in partnership with Birkbeck, London.
  • Beyond Glorious: The Radical in Performance: Katsouraki and Louise Owens held this symposium at Stratford Circus in May 2013, also in partnership with Birkbeck, London.
  • Community Engagement and the Arts: Breed led this colloquia series in May, June, and July 2013.
  • Performing Human Rights: Hingorani organised this symposium in association with Amnesty International and Penguin Books. He also runs the New Voices workshop series for emerging directors and designers at the Young Vic.
  • Theatre for Young People: Hingorani hosted this conference to facilitate knowledge exchange between academics and professional practitioners.
  • Walkie Talkie: Qualmann organises this international network for artists, with recent events held in Ghent, Belgium, and at the Chelsea Theatre in London.
  • International Collaborations: Lopes has partnered with organisations like LIFT, National Theatre Wales, Wales International, and the Wooster Group for events such as LIFT 2012 and the Drift International Residency.

Academic networks

AHRC Peer Review College, Executive of the Standing Conference of Drama Departments (SCUDD), and Working Group Chair of the Theatre & Performance Research Association  (TaPRA), Screenwriting Research Network, and Walking Artists Network.

Journal editorial/advisory boards

We have a strong presence in academic publishing, with our researchers holding key positions on editorial and advisory boards.

  • Palgrave book series: A new book series on performance philosophy, edited by Katsouraki, was launched in November 2013.
  • Advisory Boards: Thomas has served on the advisory board for the British Music Collection since 2012.
  • Editorial Boards: Chapman has been on the editorial board for Screenworks since 2008; Castelyn is on the board for the South African Dance Journal and has been invited to join the new Zimbabwean journal for Performing and Creative Arts, Jibilika; Nelmes has edited The Journal of Screenwriting for Intellect Books since 2010; Atkins has edited the online journal Onedit since 2000.

Other activities

Castelyn's collaboration with the Flatfoot Dance Company Dune CD album is the origin of the collaboration between Hugh Hopper and Cawkwell (HUMI). Reddington  directed/produced a songwriting project in collaboration with City and Hackney Carers and the Premises Studio Education Trust. CPAD staff undertake a variety of external activities, including membership of research council peer review panels; providing consultancy; writing publishers' reports; writing reviews for academic journals; external examining including PhD examinations; giving invited talks and lectures.

Grant income

The nature of our work, with its focus on public engagement, has led to some notable successes in terms of grant capture over the last few years. In 2009, we embarked on CEDAR - 'Clustering & Enhancing Digital Archives for Research' - a £250,000 JISC-funded collaborative online archiving project, which brought partnership with institutions  including King's College London; the University of Nottingham; Royal Holloway, University of London; and the University of Sheffield , resulting in the Online Theatre Histories Archive.

We have also had some notable successes in applications for practice-based research funding, including Arts Council England and the British Council. Individual researchers have also been supported by a wide range of sponsors.

Hingorani's Guantanamo Boy project has attracted support from the Arts Council England , Stratford Circus arts centre, the Stanley Johnson Foundation, the Unity Trust, and the Royal Victoria Hall Foundation (£104,662). Qualmann  received Creative Communities funding from UEL, Research Capability funding from London Metropolitan University (£28,550) and AHRC Network Scheme for Footwork: the Walking Artists Network as Mobile Community (£49,000). 

McWatt received external grant funding from arts support agencies and the Canada Council to write Vital Signs (£16,750) and advances from Random House and William Heinemann (£17,000), plus a commission from Screen Siren Pictures ($23,500). Nelmes received support to research screenplays held in the special collections at BFI to complete monograph The Screenwriter and the Screenplay in British Cinema (£26,000). Lopes' international residencies and knowledge transfer activities have been funded by Arts Council and British Council (£20,000). 

Chapman's sound art project Re-sounding Falkland was funded by Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (£5,000) and Creative Scotland for the Falkland Centre for Stewardship (£8,000), Reddington received funding from the British Academy and Leverhulme for the study of the invisibility of women producers in the British music industry (£4,940.59).

Thomas's production Atalanta was funded by the Arts Council England and supported by a series of partners including the South Bank Centre; Tate Modern; the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A); York Theatre Royal; Homo Ludens in Korea; and Teatre Municipal de Rosas in Spain (£23,920). 

Her project Like A Fish Out Of Water received funding from English National Ballet, Greater London Authority (London 2012), the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A), Marangoni Institute, the London Boroughs of Richmond upon Thames, Hillingdon and Lambeth (£161,500). Her project "Atalanta" was funded and supported by the Cross Campus Initiative (GLA, Arts Council England), Ashmolean Museum, and De La Warr Pavilion (£15,000). 

Cawkwell was funded by the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation for the delivery of workshops in Japan with emerging artists (£4,000). Harries was funded by Kameroperahuis for the production of Two Caravans chamber opera (£30,000). Thomas was commissioned by Sound and Music (£4,600). UOA 35 researchers have been supported through internal and external grant income totalling £792,422.59.

We intend to significantly increase our grant capture between REF 2014 and the next research assessment round and are currently developing international collaborative projects that we hope will contribute to this aim. Currently, researchers are submitting bids to enhance our research environment and funding including  £50,000 research fellowship proposal to Daad (Thomas), £67,000 proposal to United States Institute of Peace (USIP) for the development of interactive theatre practices linked to policy-making bodies in Rwanda (Breed), £350,000 proposal to Digital Research and Development fund to enhance applied and community practices using digital platforms  (Breed), and £250,000 proposal to AHRC for the Performance Philosophy Association's partner institution activities and knowledge exchange (Katsouraki).

Infrastructure and facilities

Between 2008-2013 UEL performing arts has delivered across three campuses that provide important performance facilities for practice-based research: Trinity Buoy Wharf (Dance Programme location) and Stratford Circus (Partner Arts Centre). Docklands Campus is home to three teaching rooms partially converted to rehearsal space; this includes secondary rubberised flooring, blackout blinds, curtaining and AV equipment.

Trinity Buoy Wharf is the interim home of the dance programme. The main building houses two large dance studios, a student study room with multiple PCs with internet access, and a student 'green room'.

The second space at Trinity Buoy Wharf houses the staff office and teaching room. Stratford Circus is a purpose-built working arts centre with three main performance/rehearsal spaces. Circus 1 is a professional proscenium arch theatre with pit, full rig and control booth, and seating up to 280. Circus 2 is a 'black box' studio theatre with rig and control room, seating 90; Circus 3 is a large dance rehearsal space with full sprung floor, natural lighting, mirrors and bars.

Stratford Circus itself has a successful events programme within which UEL student work is programmed, and several of our researchers have strong performance links with the theatre; providing partial funding and the development, rehearsal and performance location for Hingorani's Guantanamo Boy project. 

Additionally, we have valuable archival resources for research, including the JISC-funded Online Theatre Histories archive, the East London Theatre Archive, and the Hackney Empire archive.