This paper reflects on the systematic interconnections between creative workers and higher education institutions (HEIs). Despite the latter representing key intermediaries in creative industries' development and creative workers' career trajectories, the relationship between the two has rarely been framed in a relational and systemic framework.…

Following my journey from stage manager to academic I wanted to discover whether my experiences were unique. Although there has been investigation in other fields into transition experiences, there was no existing research in this area. In this article I investigate the values and identity of stage managers in academia and how these are affected…

This study investigated the translanguaging practices of 12 students and a teacher rehearsing a German play as part of an extra-curricular UK university theatre group comprising different European nationalities. Our aim was to understand how these practices support foreign language and literacy development in the context of a script-based,…

This paper considers business and enterprise education through the lens of theatre and the creative arts, and identifies new pathways towards an interdisciplinary way of supporting the young innovators of the future, placing higher education as a central catalyst. Following a review of key criticism directed at traditional business and management…

This research examined whether professional mentoring could have a positive effect on the occupational self-efficacy of autistic performing arts professionals. We compared the outcomes of one group who received mentoring to a waitlist control group. 26 participants took part in this study: 15 autistic mentees and 11 mentors, three of whom were…

This case study examines a joint project in performer training and rehearsal conducted between Coventry University (UK) and Tampere University (Finland) using a variety of telepresence and app-based technologies. In this project, two identical spaces, equipped with rear projection screens and linked by videoconferencing technology, were created in…

"The Deal Versus the People" was a theatrical response created by people in Bradford (UK) to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). A controversial trade deal between the European Union and United States being negotiated at the time of the production, TTIP threatened to deepen trade liberalisation, with potentially…

This research examined in-depth the employment experiences of autistic performing arts professionals and the attitudes and adjustments of performing arts employers. We interviewed 18 autistic performing arts professionals and 19 performing arts employers. Autistic performing arts professionals described facing challenges in the workplace. Some…

The experience of visiting a zoo as a child can be remembered decades later and potentially influences future environmental attitudes. In light of steadily growing criticism of the ethics and value of live animal shows, some zoos are seeking alternative means of delivering 'edutainment' to a broad audience. One such alternative is through theatre.…

This article focuses specifically on drama and theatre higher education (HE) programmes and preparation for potential graduate work. The article investigates working in the creative industries and in the performing arts (particularly within acting) and how HE students in the United Kingdom prepare for this life. The growth of the creative…

This article addresses the performance of labour in participatory arts projects and considers the implications of such activity on perceptions of the unemployed in the UK. Utilising a combination of biopolitical and necropolitical understandings of governance and drawing on two examples of theatre practice, Tangled Feet's "One Million"…

This article is an autoethnographic account of my journey from theatre stage manager to academic stage manager. Performing arts education and training in Higher Education is a diverse field, ranging from small private institutions to large research lead universities. Professional practitioners (performers, stage managers, technicians, designers,…

All disciplines have particular ways of knowing, common practices, and means of using language that mediate and potentially support engagement with the discipline. For multilingual learners, language demands of a discipline can be a closed door or a facilitated entryway. Drama and theater arts, the focus of our article, are often marginalized in…

In 2011, the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) began a series of collaborations with established amateur theatre groups from across the UK. The initiative now known as Open Stages became one of the most ambitious educational outreach programmes ever run by the RSC, engaging hundreds of amateur theatre practitioners in a process of skills sharing and…

This article is based upon research into a participatory Theatre in Education (TiE) programme that toured the West Midlands in 2009, funded by the UK's PREVENT initiative intended to counter the radicalisation of young British nationals by extremist political groups. The article provides a summary of the TiE programme and then presents…