Dr Alison Forsyth

Lecturer in Drama
BA (Surrey), MSc (Edinburgh), PhD (Stirling) Photograph of Dr Alison Forsyth.

Contact

Email: alf@aber.ac.uk
Phone: 01970 628652
Fax: 01970 622831

Responsibilities

Lecturer in Drama, Departmental Part One Tutor, Member of Learning and Teaching Committee.


Research

Alison’s chief areas of research and teaching include: Contemporary American Theatre; Adaptations of Ancient Plays; Documentary and Testimonial Theatre; and the hermeneutics of performance. Alison's research is focused on two seemingly separate but actually interrelated areas - adaptations of ancient drama and documentary theatre and performance, and in particular, the way these forms of theatre negotiate with the re-presentation and staging of the traumatic "real". She is particularly interested in adaptation and documentary as modes of theatre and performance that confront the traumatic "real" such as war, the Holocaust, 9/11, slavery, torture and urban unrest beyond the parameters of conventional stage realism. This has led her to consider subjects as diverse as "pacifist" Antigones, urban trauma in the work of Anna Deavere Smith, the plays of Griselda Gambaro and Ariel Dorfman concerning the "disappeared" in Argentina/Chile and, most recently, the Holocaust plays of Arthur Miller.

Biography

Dr Alison Forsyth (degrees from Universities of Surrey, Edinburgh and Stirling) joined the department in November 2003. After pursuing a successful early career in publishing, Alison taught both in the United Kingdom and overseas (Universities of Stirling, Staffordshire, Bahrain, Tunisia, Kuwait). Alison initially worked at Aberystwyth University on a fixed term contract (1998-1999), but returned in November 2003 to take up a full lectureship position in the Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies

Teaching

Module Coordination:

TP33020 - Adaptations of the Classics

TP20620 - Contemporary American Voices

TP33220 - Shakespeare in Performance

TP33520 - Documentary Theatre

TP10220 - Studying Theatre II (2011/2012)

Other Teaching:

 TP10320 - Text Workshop

TP20420 - Theatre in Society

TP36000 - Dissertation

TP10120 - Studying Theatre I

TP20320 - Modern European Drama

TP20120 - Contemporary European Drama

 Postgraduate Teaching:

 TPM0130 - Theoretical Practices (Testimony and Memory in Performance)

Current & Potential Postgraduate Supervision

Alison would welcome proposals from postgraduates interested in researching adaptations (particularly adaptations of ancient drama) and stage representations of trauma. Alison has been and continues to be involved in the successful supervision of postgraduate doctoral theses including:

The Political Aesthetics of Play and Display on the Early Modern Stage (2007, second supervisor with Professor David Ian Rabey)

Martin McDonagh: Narratives of Theatrical Power and Representation (2007, second supervisor with Professor David Ian Rabey)

Second Life: An Ethnographic Analysis of Virtual Reality and Presence (due submission by part time candidate 2013, second supervisor with Dr Daniel Chandler)

Appointed as invited dissertation committee member for a doctoral thesis titled Historical Trauma in the Theatrical Adaptations of Greek Tragedy at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champagne in United States (due for examination in 2012).

Alison has been internal examiner for a number of theses including MPhil dissertation on Women in Eighteenth Century Stage Adaptations (2004) and a PhD on Irony in Ibsen's Plays (2008) at Aberystwyth, as well as being invited to externally examine theses in other institutions such as the University of Glasgow (2012) – “Representing Performance: Documentary Film, Performance and the Real.”

Publications

Recent and Forthcoming Publications (All Peer Reviewed)

MONOGRAPHS

 2002

Gadamer, History and the Classics: Fugard, Marowitz, Berkoff, and Harrison Rewrite the Theatre (New York: Peter Lang, 2002, ISBN0-8204-5265-3, pp.275 )

Review of book in Consciousness, Literature and The Arts, Vol 4/2 July 2003 references at www.iainfisher.com

2012/3


Arthur Miller's Holocaust Plays: The Trauma of Articulation (Ashgate Press, forthcoming monograph expected 2012/13)

EDITED BOOKS AND JOURNAL ISSUES

2009 (REISSUED IN PAPERBACK 2011)

 

Forsyth, A and Megson, C., (eds) Get Real: Documentary Theatre Past and Present (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009 and 2011 ISBN 976-0-230-22115 and ISBN 976-0-230-33689-6 pp. 256 "- part of the Performance Interventions series edited by Elaine Aston and Bryan Reynolds)

2012

 

 

Special Issue (contracted and in process, co-edited with Amanda Stuart-Fisher) of Performing Ethos: International Journal of Performance and Ethics
titled “Acting Out: Trauma and the Ethics of Remembrance” Volume 3, issue 2 (November/December 2012", Intellect Publishers, General Journal Editor, Carole-Anne Upton)

2013

Adaptations of The Classics: Modernist, Postmodernist and After (London: Routledge, forthcoming critical/edited anthology)

The Methuen Book of Testimonial Theatre (contracted/in process for Spring 2013 publication: interviews with editor, artist essays and play texts as well as critical introduction by editor) pp. 400

 

 

SELECTED ARTICLES AND BOOK CHAPTERS

2003

'The Professional Archaeologist and the Aesthetic of Cultural Imperialism in Tony Harrison’s The Trackers of Oxyrynchus' in The Professions in Contemporary British Drama (Bristol/Oregon: Intellect Publishing, 2003, ISBN 184150047X) pp. 101-114

2005

"Beyond Representation: The Traumatic Realism of Arthur Miller's Broken Glass" Commemorating Arthur Miller, Special Edition of Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies (2005) University of Debrecan, Hungary, Vol. 11 No 2 (2005) in Special Issue: Representations of the Family in the Modern English Language Drama In Memory of Arthur Miller edited by Maria Kurdi, (Indexed by MLA) ISSN 1218 7364 pp.89-107

2006

"No Longer Lost for Words: Antigone's Afterlife" in Colloquy: Text, Theory, Critique (University of Monash) Volume 11, May 2006 - Special Issue dedicated to ideas, critiques and provocations about "Antigone" (ISSN 13259490) pp.127-147

2007

"Redefining the Dream on the American Stage" in American Dreams: Comparative Dialogues in US Studies edited by R. Miguez (Cambridge Scholars Press, 2007) ISBN 1-64718-082-5 pp.207-233

2008

"The Trauma of Articulation: Holocaust Representation in After the Fall (1964) and Broken Glass (1994)" in The Arthur Miller Journal (ed) Steve Marino, Vol 3 Number 2 Fall 2008, ISSN 1558-8831, pp.41-61

2009

"Pacifist Antigones: Irwin Shaw's Bury the Dead (1936), Bertolt Brecht's Antigone (1948), Griselda Gambaro's Antigona Furiosa (1984) and Seamus Heaney's Burial at Thebes (2004)" in Performing Adaptations: Essays and Conversations on the Theory and Practice of Adaptation (eds) Michelle Macarthur, Lydia Wilkinson and Keren Zaientz (Cambridge Scholars Press, 2009) ISBN 978 1-4438-0152 pp.25-43

"Performing Trauma: Race Riots and Beyond in the Work of Anna Deavere Smith" in Get Real: Documentary Drama Past and Present edited by Alison Forsyth and Chris Megson (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009) ISBN 0-230-2215-7 pp.40-51

Introduction by Alison Forsyth and Chris Megson to Get Real: Documentary Theatre Past and Present eds. Alison Forsyth and Chris Megson (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009) ISBN 0-230-22157 pp.1-5

2011

New ‘Preface’ (co-written by Alison Forsyth and Chris Megson) to 2011 update paperback issue of Get Real: Documentary Theatre Past and Present (London: Palgrave, Macmillan) ISBN 33689-6 pp.ix-xv

"Primo (2004): The Performance of Traumatic Testimony" in Studies in Theatre and Performance - a special edition on Documentary Theatre and Acting with Facts edited by Derek Paget (STP, Vol 31/2 2011, pp.153-165)

 

SELECTED CONFERENCE PAPERS/ORGANISATION

2002

Organised and hosted PALATINE workshop/conference for Staffordshire University's Key Skills in the Performing Arts - "Developing and Identifying Key Skills in a Drama Course" - April 17th 2002

2004

"The Ethics of Violence - Michael Frayn's Copenhagen" presented at the University of Glamorgan's Theatres of Science Conference - September 2004

2005

 "Sartre, the Ancients and The Theatre of War" presented at the University of Aberystwyth as part of the Centre of Performance Research Conference, Towards Tomorrow - April 2005

"Trauma,Testimony and Theatre - Staging the Real" at The Consciousness, Literature and the Arts Conference at University of Aberystwyth - May 2005

Invited to attend/participate at the 5th Annual Symposium on Ancient Greek and Roman Drama - "Sight and Sound" at University of Oxford and Royal Holloway University (London) in June 2005

"Sartre's Struggle for Authenticity and The Authentic Voice of Struggle" at TAPRA's inaugural conference at the University of Manchester (September 2005)

"The Performativity of Protest from 1970 to the present" at Theatre for Social Change conference at Liverpool Hope University (September 2005)

2006

"Performing Trauma: Race Riots and Beyond in the work of Anna Deavere Smith" at the Documenting Trauma Conference (accepted to present at Florida State University) 31st Annual Conference of Film and Literature, February 2-5 2006

"Ancient Presence: Why Adapt the Classics"at Festival of Original Theatre: Performing Adaptations (accepted to present at University of Toronto, 15th - 19th February 2006)

Invited to Chair Plenary at Bath Spa University's Drama and Performance Conference on Site Specific Performance and Adaptation (10-11th March 2006)

Invited to attend and participate in Sixth Symposium on the theme of "The Body", Archive for Performance of Ancient Greek and Roman Drama at the University of Oxford/Royal Holloway, London (June 2006)

Attendance at Symposium "Verbatim Practices in Contemporary Theatre" July 13th - 14th, 2006 atCentralSchool of Speech and Drama.

"Pacifist Antigones: The Site/Sight of Burial" at Interrogating Antigone conference October 6-7 2006, Trinity College Dublin

2008

"Political Alliances and Shared Intimacies: The Art of Factual Representation in Etorre Scola's A Special Day (1977)" at the 29th Annual Meeting of Southwest/Texas Popular and American Culture Associations, Historical Fictions Panel, February 13th - 16th, 2008, Albuquerque, New Mexico

"The Trauma of 'Lack' in Arthur Miller's Broken Glass (1994)" at the American Literature Association (ALA) Conference, Trauma, Illness and Disability in Ethnic American Literature Panel, May 22nd -28th, 2008, San Francisco (Funded by British Academy Overseas Conference Award)

"Adaptation as a Critical Paradigm: Pacifist Antigones for the Twentieth and Twenty First Centuries" at Cultures of Translation: Adaptation in Film and Performance Conference, 26th-28th June, 2008, University of Glamorgan (full paper delivered in absence by Dr Marta Minier)

"Documentary and Trauma: The Image" delivered as part of Warwick University funded Cross University Working Group on Documentary Theatre and Film Plenary session with invited contributors from Warwick University (Profs Reinelt and Bruzzi), Reading Universit (Dr Paget), Royal Holloway University (Dr Megson), University of Arts in London (Dr Ratrap Rhugani), Liverpool University (Professor John Corner) and Aberystwyth University (Dr Alison Forsyth) at Visible Evidence XV, Lincoln University on August 6th, 2008

2009

"Documenting Postmemory: Oral Tradition and Fictionalised Truths relating to War and Trauma" as part of University of Reading AHRC funded Symposium, Acting with Facts: Actors Performing the Real in British Theatre and Film since 1990 on May 8th 2009 - invited to present paper as part of ongoing cross university working group on Documentary Theatre and Film (Warwick, Reading, RHUL, Lincoln, Aberystwyth)

BritishAcademy funded research visit to the Harry Ransom Archive (University of Texas) June 20th - 28th 2009, with particular focus on Arthur Miller archives.

"The Presidency, the 'White' House and 'the Dream' : Suzan-Lori Parks' Topdog/underdog from a 2009 perspective" as part of International Federation of Theatre Research (IFRT) conference at Lisbon, Portugal. Presented as part of the Political Performances Working Group convened by Professor Avraham Oz (Haifa University) July 13th-17th, 2009.

Invited Chairperson for Panel titled Theatre Images: Portraying Suffering and Offering Critique at 52nd IFTR Annual Conference, "Silent Voices/Forbidden Lives" at Faculty of Letters, University of Lisbon, Portugal, July 14th 2009

2010

February 2010 - invited to give paper at aftershow discussion on "Myth and Fairytale" at Aberystwyth Arts Centre - A Response to Kneehigh Theatre Company's adaptation of Hansel and Gretel (alongside Professor Mike Pearson, Dr Carl Lavery, Lucy Gough and other writers and artists)

August 31st to September 3rd, 2010 - invited presenter at Acting with Facts three day international conference at Reading University, "Playing for Time (1980) and The Aesthetics of Truth: Holocaust Testimony on Screen and on Stage"

British Academy funded research and archival trip to US (Washington DC and Delaware) at The Holocaust Memorial Museum and John Hoffman Archive (specifically the Arthur Miller section) respectively between August-September 2010

2011

February 15th 2011 - Invited research seminar presentation at Northumbria University's Department of Arts Research Seminar Series - "Traumatic Testimony in Performance"

May 25th-29th 2011 - Performance Studies International Utrecht (PSi) "... in the theatre and through the theatre ..." performance, philosophy and remembrance of the Holocaust. Plenary shift (invited) with Freddie Rokem, Alan Read, Laura Cull, Jane Arnfield. Paper titled "The Holocaust and Art?"

July 14th-15th 2011 invited Roundtable participant on "Beyond Words: Dramaturgies of the Real" panel as part of Authoring Theatre: New Performance, Text and the Return of the Auteur Conference at Central School of Speech and Drama

September 7-9th 2011 presenter/speaker at 2011 TAPRA (Theatre and Performance Research Association) at Kingston University as part of Performance and the Body Working Group, "Beyond Words: Performing Embodied Memories of Traumatic Experience in Chile and Argentina"

October 7-9th 2011 presenter/speaker at Theatre of Human Rights/Things Unspeakable at the University of York, "Torture" panel - titled "Griselda Gambaro's Information for Foreigners (1973) and Harold Pinter's One For the Road (1984) - A Comparative Study of Staging Torture"

October 27th 2011 - invited guest lecture and workshop titled "Testimony as Theatre" at the University of East London World Theatre II programme (led by Ananda Breed – postponed until 2012)

2012

Keynote speaker at Central School of Speech and Drama “Holocaust Memorial Day: Performance and Remembrance” January 26th 2012 (organised by Amanda Stuart Fisher and Chaired by Derek Paget) “The Holocaust, Performance and Remembrance”

REVIEWS

2000

Review by Alison Forsyth, Out of the Inferno: Strindberg's Awakening as an Artist by Harry G Carlson (Stanford University Press, 2000) in The European Legacy Vol 5/2 April 2000 pp289-292 (ISSN 10848770)

2006

Review by Alison Forsyth,
Sartre's Theatre: Acts for Life by Benedict O'Donohoe (Bern: Peter :Lang, 2005) in Theatre Research International 31/2 July 2006, pp212-213 (ISSN 03078833, EISSN 1474 0672)

Review by Alison Forsyth on British Theatre and Greek Tragedy (1660-1914) by Edith Hall and Fiona Mackintosh (Oxford: OUP, 2005) in Theatre Journal (Johns Hopkin Press), Volume 59/3, 2007
2,000 words pp. 529-531 (ISSN 0192-2882)

2007

Review by Alison Forsyth, Film Adaptation and its Discontents: From Gone with the Wind to The Passion of Christ by Thomas Leitch (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007)
in Journal of Adaptation in Film and Performance (Bristol/Oregan: Intellect Books, Volume 1/Issue 2, 2008 ISSN 17536421)

2008

Review by Alison Forsyth, Now A Major Motion Picture: Film Adaptations of Literature and Drama by Christine Geraghty (Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield, 2008) in Journal of Adaptation in Film and Performance (Bristol, Oregan: Intellect Publishers Volume 1/Issue 3, 2008, ISSN 17536421)

2009

Review by Alison Forsyth, Tragedy in Transition edited by Sarah Annes Brown and Catherine Silverstone, in Modern Philology (University of Chicago Volume 106/1)

Review by Alison Forsyth, Screen Adaptations: Shakespeare's The Tempest and The Relationship between Text and Film by Lisa Hopkins (London: Methuen Drama, 2008) in Journal of Adaptation in Film and Performance (Bristol/Oregan: Intellect Publishers, Vol 2/Issue 1, 2009, ISSN 17536421)

2011

Review by Alison Forsyth, Cinematic Hamlet: The Films of Olivier, Zeffirelli, Branagh and Almereyda by Patrick J Cook (Athens: Ohio University Press, 2011) in Journal of Adaptation in Film and Performance (Bristol/Oregan: Intellect Books, Volume 4/Issue 2, 2011 ISSN17536421)

Additional Interests

Membership of Research Committees and Learned Societies

TAPRA (member of working group party 2005-6) and current member of Body and Performance Group 2011 to present

Centre for Theatre, Performance and Philosophy at Aberystwyth University (Inaugural Co-Founder and Co-ordinater of Research Seminar Papers 2005-6)

Member of the Arthur Miller Society 2007 to present

Member of ASTR (American Society of Theatre Research) 2006 to present

Member of Warwick University Organising Committee and Discussion Group for Documentary Theatre/Film 2006 to present

Member of IFTR (International Federation of Theatre Research) 2006 to present

Member of PPER - Performing Politics Research Group International and working group within International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR/FIRT) 2009 to present

 

Administration and External/Editorial Duties

Departmental Part One Tutor - 2011 to present (responsible for coordination and arrangement of meetings about Part One attendance/absenteeism across the Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies and in close liaison with Welfare Officer, Director of Teaching and Learning and Head of Department)

Member of Learning and Teaching Committee

SSCC Representative/Officer for Drama and Theatre Studies (Staff Student Liason) (November 2008 to February 2011)

External Examiner for Drama at Bath Spa University (2005 to 2010 with extended service to five from three years)

Departmental Examinations Officer November 2003 - June 2004 responsible for all matters pertaining to examinations, exam marks, exam boards, external examination across the Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies

Invited External and Internal examiner for Mphil and PhD theses (Aberystwyth, Glasgow)

Invited External Reader Duties for Intellect Journals as well as regular book proposal reviewer for Routledge and Palgrave Macmillan, 2006 to present

Awards and Grants

2008

British Academy Overseas Conference Award (£500)

2008

British Academy Small Research Grant Award for archival research on Arthur Miller's Holocaust Plays at University of Delaware, University of Texas, Austin and the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC between 2009 and 2010 (£4,210)