The TaPRA Theatre and Performance Histories working group are delighted to announce our next FREE online seminar, that we think will appeal to STR members:

Prof. Fiona Ritchie (McGill University) – “Four Nights in Oxford in 1815: What the End of Dorothy Jordan’s Career Can Tell Us About Women and Regional Theatre,” 5 March 5-6.15 PM (GMT)

This talk will examine the four performances given by the star actress Dorothy Jordan in Oxford in August 1815, appearances which seem to have been the last she gave on any stage. A consideration of the circumstances and rhetoric surrounding these performances sheds new light on Jordan’s career. Such an analysis also elucidates the distinct theatrical landscape of Oxford in the period and uncovers new information about other women connected with local performance culture. Thus I will demonstrate how an exploration of this brief moment in Jordan’s biography opens up new avenues for understanding women’s contributions to regional theatre in the long eighteenth century.

Fiona Ritchie is Associate Professor of Drama and Theatre in the Department of English at McGill University, Montreal. She is the author of Shakespeare in the Theatre: Sarah Siddons and John Philip Kemble (Bloomsbury, 2023) and Women and Shakespeare in the Eighteenth Century (Cambridge UP, 2014), and the co-editor (with Peter Sabor) of Shakespeare in the Eighteenth Century (Cambridge UP, 2012). She is currently working on a project on women and regional theatre in Britain and Ireland in the long eighteenth century.

All are very welcome to join us. If you would like to attend, please email theatrehistory@tapra.org to receive a link to the MS Teams event.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Dr David Coates, Dr Matt Franks, and Dr Nick Holden (Working Group Co-Convenors)

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Dear STR Members and friends

We’re delighted to launch the Calls for Papers for this year’s Theatre and Performance Research Association (TaPRA) conference, which will take place at the University of Warwick, 27-29 August 2025. The conference celebrates TaPRA’s 20^th Anniversary and the 50^th anniversary of Theatre and Performance Studies at Warwick. To find out more about the conference and what to expect, please take a look on the conference webpages here.

You can find the Calls for Papers for each of the working groups and the TaPRA Gallery using the 14 links below:

• Applied and Social Theatre

• Audience, Experience and Popular Practices
• Bodies and Performance
• Directing and Dramaturgy
• Documenting Performance
• Performance and New Technologies
• Performance and Science
• Performance, Identity and Community
• Performer Training
• Scenography
• Sound, Voice, and Music
• TaPRA Gallery
• Theatre and Performance Histories
• Theatre, Performance and Philosophy

Proposal Submission Process

Submit your proposals by using the Abstract and Proposal Submission Form on the conference website by 10 March 2025. Your abstract should be max. 300 words and should be accompanied by a bio of max. 150 words.

We think that STR members will particularly enjoy the papers given in the Theatre and Performance Histories group – even if you do not wish to give a paper at the conference yourself. You will be able to register for the conference from 12 May onwards.

If you have any questions or queries about the conference, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us on TaPRA2025@warwick.ac.uk.

We look forward to welcoming you to Warwick in August.

All Best Wishes

Dr David Coates and the Warwick Theatre and Performance Studies Team