andymachals.de
andymachals.de

Academic Work

Doctor of Philosophy in Theatre

Performance Researcher & Theatre Academic

Having obtained a Master of Arts in Performance Research (directing, non-verbal/visual theatre, dance & performance) and a PhD in theatre (specialised in show theatrical production) from the University of Bristol, I am exposed to the most recent debates in theatre scholarship and have acquired specialist knowledge in the fields of performance, theatre, cultural history, and performance making. In my pursuit of making work that is relevant, I try to fuse engagements with show theatre and academic critical approaches. In this way, I productively connect British/American and European/German approaches to entertainment and theatre.

Research interests

Show histories of European capitals, Las Vegas, New York; Arabic performance cultures; Queer studies and Queer theory; Feminist theatre and women in theatre; revue theatre; revue & show design methods; production methods and regimen; socialist and capitalist spectacle and how to make it interesting; show choreography; technology and performance; show ideas and dramaturgies; immersive theatres; intermedial theatres and post-media/post-digital performance.

Anglophone Research Network

Having been based in Bristol, and having presented my research in Bristol, Liverpool, London, Paris, Berlin, and Cologne, my academic views have been formed my the Anglo-American discourse about performance, performativity, history, and production.

PH.D DOCTORIAL DISSERTATION

Reconstructing the East German Extravaganza: Acquisition and appropriation of revue practice at the Friedrichstadt-Palast since 1945

The dissertation investigates the cultural production regimes of large-scale revue shows during and after East German socialism. It interprets formerly Marxist concepts of cultural acquisition and appropriation in terms of performance studies and applies this lens to an analysis of the Friedrichstadt-Palast’s revue practices since 1945. For the first time, it considers the contiguity of revue practice from before and after German reunification in 1990 by construing the revue as the epitome of performance reconstruction. The concepts developed include dramaturgical (perspective consciousness), embodied (socialist virtuosity), and technological (techno-futurism) considerations that shaped and shape the directorial practice of German show theatre.

Supervisors: Dr Kate Elswit, Dr Catherine Hindson
Examiners: Prof Laura Bradley, Dr Katja Krebs

You can download the thesis here.

ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN THEATRE SURVEY (Cambridge, USA; 01/2017)

«Of course there is no such thing as a socialist handstand, but…»: Socialism, humanism, and virtuosity in East Germany variety theatre practice during the 1950s and 1960s

Using the example of the revue performances at the Friedrichstadt-Palast, Berlin, as a historiographical case that demonstrates a kind of movement from a socialist theatre practice based in narrative to one which is based very much in the body, the article investigates dance and circus practice during the 1950s 60s in the GDR. Connecting variety and show practice to the idea of humanism, which rendered Marxist affect in state socialism, the article revisits the often forgotten in histories of the moving bodies  of socialist performance.

Issue edited by Prof Nicholas Ridout.

The peer-reviewed article was published in Theatre Survey in January 2017, and is available here.

Show theatre, but from an academic POV

In my life, book-reading practice crosses stage practice. There is a lot I think about during my work and during my enduring research sessions. Some of these thoughts end up being ideas for the stage. Others find their way into this blog.
4. Mai 2021

Theatre After Corona?
7. September 2019

Yallah, yallah, Habibi!

Want to talk about research or academic matters? Please send an e-mail to:

dr@andymachals.de