The Society for Theatre Research is delighted to announce the results of both the Research and Practitioner Grants programmes for 2025. We congratulate them all and look forward to hearing about their projects in due course.

The Research Grants were awarded as follows:

The Anthony Denning Award was given to
Yidan Hu PhD Candidate, University of Glasgow
The Unborn Spectacle: Empire, Narrative, Censorship:  travel and accommodation Glasgow-London, plus stationery, printing, research materials

The Kathleen Barker Award was given to
Georgia Dalton  Postgraduate Researcher / PhD Student, Northumbria
Staging Activism: British Feminist Grassroots Theatre (1968-1993): travel/accommodation Bristol

The Stephen Joseph Award was given to
John Rudlin Retired academic and theatre director
Theatreless theatre: an archive of experimental groups in the South West 1971-2024:  travel to France, Devon, Cornwall, London, etc

And a grant from the Craig Fund was given to
David Duffy Theatre director and lighting designer
Writing a new book on Theatre Lighting for Puppetry for Routledge: travel Exeter-Dijon; photography and licence fees

Other awards were given to

Richard Hayes Architect and Architectural Historian
E.W. Godwin: Reforming the Victorian Playhouse: travel and accommodation US-UK to V&A, RIBA, British Library archives etc

Helice Koffler Rare Materials Cataloguer; part-time PGR (Bristol)
(Un)Limited Mobilities: Actresses Who Made the Crossing, 1880-1930: travel to Harvard to consult archives (based in USA) NB second grant – new phase of this project

Simon Dodi  Lecturer in Theatre and Performance, RCSSD
Queer Ephemera and Theatrical Legacies: Researching the Joe Orton Collection: travel, accomm, photographing at Leicester Orton archive

Dominika Fleszar First Year PhD student, Kent
Polish Theatre on the London Stage (1939-1989): travel to archives at Colindale and Warsaw

Paul Allain Professor of Theatre and Performance, Kent
Movement directing in the UK, including Katie Mitchell’s early work – towards a CUP Elements book : travel/accommodation London, Leeds, Stratford

 Chibueze Crouch Student / Artist
”Woman is God to Woman”: Histories of Women in Igbo Masquerade during the British Colonial Period of Nigeria: travel/accommodation Nigeria; archive access.

Rosanne Brooks PhD Student Dallas, Texas
Standard Deviation: Working Women, the Music Hall, and Queer Communities in fin de siècle London: travel and archive access London

Mioara Tarzioru Retired and PhD student
Archive research related to Michael Chekhov’s Approach to Acting: archive fees

And the Practitioner Grants have been awarded as follows:

Elise Maynard: Historical research on Julia Trevelyan Oman’s designs and costume for Swan Lake.  Funding for reconstruction of Odette’s tutu.

Marie-Louise Crawley: Dancing in the Museum. Dances influenced by Ovid and Isadora Duncan, to be performed at University of Oxford (Archive of Performances of Greek and Roman Drama), Support for costume, travel and accommodation.

Lizzie Conrad Hughes: Shake Scene Towards costs for two workshops on cue-based ‘authentic production’ performance practice.

Alena Shmakova: Women and Dance in early modern Scotland. Studio and musician costs for research on Mrs Parker.

Mark Turner: Renaissance Day – public workshops at Kingswood Arts on early modern performance practices in dance, movement and masque. Rehearsal room hire.

Stephen Smith: Digital Theatre project. Teaching techniques in digital theatre-making using mobile phones and free livestreaming.  Travel costs to the drama conservatoire where he will hold the training,

Emma Ettinger: Printing, venue hire for workshops on her own play on neurodiverse siblings, based on range of research and lived experience.

Diego Agurto: ‘Deviant Writings’ workshops for people living with HIV, leading to creation of fanzine.  Workshop materials.

Aoife Parr: Hire costs for projector for feminist Fringe show ‘anatomy of pain’

Kelvin Wong: ‘Unsilent Mode’ – rehearsal space in Thailand for ambitious transnational work involving people from Exeter and Bristol universities as well as from Thailand and Portugal.

If you have an element in your research which would qualify for one of our awards, either research or practitioner, please keep an eye on the Research Grants page here
and the Practitioner Grants page here

Application forms for both will be available from December, and applications may be submitted from January 2026 – see the pages for exact details nearer the time.