Dr Andrew Filmer

BA Hons Class 1 (Sydney); PhD (Sydney); PGCTHE (Cymru); FHEA

Dr Andrew Filmer

Senior Lecturer in Theatre and Performance

Department of Theatre, Film & Television Studies

Contact Details

Andrew Filmer is Senior Lecturer in Theatre and Performance in the Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies at Aberystwyth University, UK. His research examines the sites of encounter between performance and architecture and performative explorations of endurance running. Previous research has examined performers' experiences and practices in the backstage spaces of theatre buildings and located and site-specific performance practice. He co-edited Performing Architectures: Projects, Practices, Pedagogies (2018) and edited a special double issue of Theatre and Performance Design on ‘Theatre Architectures’ (2019). Andrew co-convenes the Theatre & Architecture Working Group of the International Federation for Theatre Research and co-curated the Working Group’s Shared Pedagogies and Shared Practices events at PQ2015. He has an ongoing research collaboration with the collective TAAT (‘Theatre as Architecture Architecture as Theatre’) and is working with National Theatre Wales on the Ever After Project, exploring post-pandemic futures for theatre and performance. Andrew was a member of the Selection Jury for the Performance Space Exhibition at the 2019 Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space (PQ) and is the curator of the Performance Space Exhibition for PQ2023.

He joined the Department in February 2008 having previously taught at the University of Sydney, the University of New South Wales and the University of Western Sydney. He gained his PhD from the Department of Theatre and Performance Studies at the University of Sydney in 2006.

Director of Research

Curator of the Performance Space Exhibition for the 2023 Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space (PQ).

Member of the Selection Jury for the Performance Space Exhibition at PQ 2019.

Co-convenor of the International Federation of Theatre Research (IFTR) Theatre Architecture Working Group (from 2012 to the present). With Dr Juliet Rufford I have organised the Working Group meetings at the Barcelona (2013), Warwick (2014) and Hyderabad (2015), Stockholm (2016) and São Paulo IFTR conferences. In addition we curated the Shared Practice and Shared Pedagogies events at The 2015 Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space. Further information on the working group is available on our web page.

Member of the International Federation for Theatre Research.

Member of the UK Theatre and Performance Research Association (TaPRA).

Member of the Running Cultures Research Network.

  • Thursday 14.00-16.00

My research explores the multiple sites of encounter between theatre, performance and architecture, artistic engagements with contemporary running cultures and, more recently, post-pandemic futures for live theatre and performance.

More broadly my research interests include issues of space, place, location and spectatorship in contemporary theatre and performance, especially the dramaturgical logics and spectatorial practices inherent in site-specific and located performance.

Previously my research has focussed on theatre architecture, examining performers' experiences and practices in the backstage spaces of theatre buildings.

Research Supervision

  • Paul Barrett, 'Being Object-ive: the development and application of Objet Trouvé Assemblages in light of advances in Scenographical theory', PhD: in progress
  • Kieran Holland, 'Running and Performance: An embodied and performative examination of recreational distance running', PhD: in progress
  • Wei-Juei Hsieh, 'Bajiajiang as Religious Theatre: Belief, People and Transformation of a Ritual Practice', MPhil: successfully completed 2017
  • Dr Mike Brookes, 'On a clear day you can see for ever …: Mediation as form and dramaturgy in located performance' PhD by published works: successfully completed 2015
  • Polly Walker-Penn, 'Seeing Red: Re-imagining Conservation in Times of Ecological Crisis', KESS funded MPhil: successfully completed 2014

Acts of Assembly: the Performance Space Exhibition at PQ 2023. / Filmer, Andrew.
In: Theatralia: Journal of Theatre Studies, Vol. 27, No. 1, 11.07.2024, p. 271-278.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Interview with David Evans. / Filmer, Andrew.
In: Theatre and Performance Design, Vol. 10, No. 3, 18.11.2024, p. 251-268.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

Unsettled Assemblies: performance space, infrastructure and architecture at PQ 2023. / Filmer, Andrew.
In: Theatre and Performance Design, Vol. 10, No. 1-2, 07.08.2024, p. 105-121.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Performance Space Exhibition. Filmer, Andrew (Curator). 2023. Event: Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space, Prague, Czech Republic.

Research output: Non-textual form › Exhibition

Acts of Assembly: Exhibiting Performance Space at the 2023 Prague Quadrennial. / Filmer, Andrew.
Architecture, Artistic Practices and Cultural Heritage: Contemporary reflections, from theory to practice. ed. / Evelyn Lima; Niuxa Drago; Carolina Lyra. Rio de Janeiro: Loope Editora, 2022. p. 23-45.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter

More publications on the Research Portal