Louise Owen

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Overview
Overview
Biography
Louise is Director of the BA Theatre Studies programmes at Birkbeck, and also served as Director of MA Text and Performance (with RADA). She is Director of Birkbeck’s Peltz Gallery and Co-Director of Birkbeck Centre for Contemporary Theatre.
Louise joined Birkbeck as a full-time member of academic staff in 2011. She previously worked as Lecturer in Applied Theatre at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (2008-2011), and as Visiting Lecturer at Queen Mary, University of London, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, Trinity Laban, Goldsmiths College, and Birkbeck.
Qualifications
- PhD, Queen Mary, University of London, 2010
- MA in Performance, Queen Mary, University of London, 2005
- BA (Hons) English Studies, University of Nottingham, 1999
- Fellow, HEA, 2012
- PGCE HE, Birkbeck, University of London, 2012
Administrative responsibilities
- Director and Admissions Tutor, BA Theatre Studies
- Co-Director, Birkbeck Centre for Contemporary Theatre
- Director, Peltz Gallery
- Affiliate Member, Birkbeck Gender and Sexuality
Professional activities
Louise has examined PhDs at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, Queen Mary, University of London, and Royal Holloway, University of London. She is external examiner of BA Theatre at Brunel University and has served as external examiner of MA Theatre and Performance Studies at King's College, London.
In the arts sector, Louise has worked for a range of organisations including London Bubble, People’s Palace Projects, and Battersea Arts Centre, in press and marketing, audience development, project evaluation, and education and participation.
Louise is on the International Scientific Advisory Board of the cross-disciplinary journal Law/Art. She regularly acts as peer reviewer for journals and academic publishers in theatre, performance and cultural studies.
Professional memberships
Louise has served on the committee of the US-based Performance Studies Focus Group of ATHE: Association of Theatre in Higher Education, and organised its pre-conference symposia in Los Angeles (2010), Chicago (2011) and Washington DC (2012). She has held memberships of ASTR: American Society of Theatre Research (US), IFTR: International Federation of Theatre Research, PSi: Performance Studies International, and TaPRA: Theatre and Performance Research Association (UK).
ORCID
0000-0001-6231-429X -
Research
Research
Research interests
- Modern and contemporary theatre and performance
- Socially engaged performance practices across disciplines, encompassing dance, digital art and performance, film, music, theatre and visual art
- Political economy, public policy and performance
- Histories, dramaturgies and practices of theatrical assembly
- Culture and social reproduction
Research overview
Louise specialises in theatre and performance studies, focusing on contemporary theatre and performance in terms of economic change and modes of governance, in particular the social and cultural effects of neoliberalization. Her research has investigated a range of artistic practices in this context, examining themes of regeneration, precarious labour, migration, individualization, gender, sexuality, and industrial change and transformation.
Her monograph Restaging the Future: Theatre, Performance and Neoliberalization in Britain (Northwestern University Press, 2023), examines the period immediately before the emergence of the financial crisis in 2007-8, and the proliferation and institutionalisation of socially-engaged and community based performance. Other recent essays analyse the theatrical mediation of the crisis and its consequences, paying particular attention to the ways in which ideas of nation, multiculturalism, gender, government, history, work and value have been implicated in various responses staged by British artists and theatre companies.
Theatre & Money, which she is currently writing for Bloomsbury Methuen's Theatre& series, addresses the representation of money in visual art, theatre and performance, focusing on works created in the aftermath of the crisis. Arising from this research, her new project 'Theatrical Currency: Money in Post-War British Theatre' investigates how British plays and performances in the post-war period defined and dramatized the workings of money.
With Dr. Marilena Zaroulia (Royal Central School of Speech and Drama), she is also working on an investigation of historical and contemporary dramaturgies and practices of assembly. Their recent collaborative text, 'Re-membering assembly' (2022), explores modes of digital dramaturgy and social gathering in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Research Centres and Institutes
- Co-Director, Birkbeck Centre for Contemporary Theatre
- Director, Peltz Gallery
- Affiliate Member, Birkbeck Institute for Gender and Sexuality Studies
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Supervision and teaching
Supervision and teaching
Supervision
Louise welcomes inquiries from prospective PhD students (including practice-led projects) in relation to her research interests:
- Modern and contemporary theatre and performance
- Political economy and performance
- Socially engaged performance practices across disciplines, encompassing dance, digital art and performance, film, music, theatre and visual art
- Histories, dramaturgies and practices of theatrical assembly
- Performance and social reproduction
The projects she is currently co-supervising with colleagues address discourses of cultural production in Plymouth, and histories and practices of lesbian theatre and performance.
Current doctoral researchers
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HENRY MULHALL
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JESSI CLAYTON
Doctoral alumni since 2013-14
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JASWINDER BLACKWELL-PAL
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JEREMY NEWTON
Teaching
Louise teaches on BA Theatre and Performance, BA Theatre and English, BA Theatre and Creative Writing, BA Theatre, Film and Media, BA Theatre and Arts Management, BA English, BA Liberal Arts, MA Text and Performance and MA Dramaturgy.
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Publications
Publications
Article
- Owen, Louise and Hope, Sophie and Amsler, S. and Zimmerman, A.L. and Roberts, D. and Schmidt, T. and Pinder, J. (2014) Beyond glorious: the radical in engaged practices. Contemporary Theatre Review 24 (2), pp. 284-288. ISSN 1048-6801.
- Owen, Louise (2013) Robert Wilson, "Walking" (Holkham Estate, 2012). Contemporary Theatre Review 23 (4), pp. 568-573. ISSN 1048-6801.
- Owen, Louise (2012) Audio Obscura, or, "Dread in the Fallen City". Frakcija (58-59), pp. 118-123. ISSN 1331-0100.
- Owen, Louise (2012) "Work that body": precarity and femininity in the new economy. TDR: the Drama Review 56 (4), pp. 78-94. ISSN 1054-2043.
- Owen, Louise (2011) "Identity correction": The Yes Men and acts of discursive "leverage". Performance Research 16 (2), pp. 28-36. ISSN 1352-8165.
- Owen, Louise (2008) 'In tune with the beat of where they are': the AfroReggae UK Partnership in 2007. PPP Bulletin 4, pp. 1-14.
- Owen, Louise (2005) The gathering. Mailout pp. 15-16.
- Owen, Louise (2004) The making of George. Drama: the Journal for National Drama pp. 43-47. ISSN 2040-2228.
Book
- Owen, Louise (2023) Restaging the future: neoliberalization, theater, and performance in Britain. Performance Works. Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press. ISBN 9780810146044. (In Press)
Book Review
Book Section
- Owen, Louise and Zaroulia, M. (2022) Re-membering assembly. In: Wallace, C. and Escoda, C. and Monforte, E. and Prado-Pérez, J.R. (eds.) Crisis, Representation and Resilience: Perspectives on Contemporary British Theatre. Methuen Drama Engage. London, UK: Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 209-225. ISBN 9781350180857.
- Owen, Louise (2022) Introductory essay to "Beyond Caring". In: Zeldin, Alexander (ed.) The Inequalities: Beyond Caring; LOVE; Faith, Hope and Charity. Methuen Drama. London, UK: Bloomsbury Methuen. pp. 1-16. ISBN 9781350271777.
- Owen, Louise (2019) How does theatre represent economic systems?. In: Bleeker, M. and Kear, A. and Kelleher, J. and Roms, H. (eds.) Thinking Through Theatre: A Critical Companion to Performance. Thinking through Theatre. London, UK: Methuen Drama. ISBN 9781472579607.
- Owen, Louise (2017) Defending collective sociality: The Oresteia at Shakespeare's Globe. In: Meccarelli, M. (ed.) Reading the crisis: legal, philosophical and literary perspectives. Historia del Derecho. Madrid, Spain: Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. pp. 117-131. ISBN 9788491484202.
- Louise, Owen (2016) Back to the future: gendering the economy in Twenty-First Century drama. In: Adiseshiah, S. and LePage, L. (eds.) Twenty First Century Drama: What Happens Now. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9781137484024.
- Owen, Louise (2015) Theatrical nationhood: crisis on the national stage. In: Zaroulia, M. and Hager, P. (eds.) Performances of Capitalism, Crises and Resistance: Inside/Outside Europe. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 113-133. ISBN 9781137379368.
- Owen, Louise (2013) The witness and the replay: London Bubble. In: McAvinchey, C. (ed.) Performance and Community: Commentary and Case Studies. London, UK: Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781408146422.
- Owen, Louise (2012) 'Places, like property prices, go up and down': site-specificity, regeneration and The Margate Exodus. In: Birch, A. and Tompkins, J. (eds.) Performing Site-Specific Theatre: Politics, Place, Practice. Performance Interventions. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 150-164. ISBN 9780230364059.
Conference Item
- Owen, Louise (2011) A response to 'Beyond Angels, Elephants, Good Intentions and Red-Nose Rebellion'. Beyond Angels, Elephants, Good Intentions and Red-Nose Rebellion: What is the Future for Art in the Public Realm?, 2011, Armada House, Telephone Avenue, Bristol, UK, BS1 4BQ
Editorial
- Cranfield, Ben and Owen, Louise (2017) Editorial. Performance Research: On Proximity 22 (3), pp. 1-6. Taylor and Francis. ISSN 1352-8165.
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Business and community
Business and community
Outreach
Louise has organised numerous public events designed to enable dialogue between and among artists and academics, on a variety of issues of mutual interest and concern. Much of this work proceeds under her directorship of Birkbeck's Peltz Gallery, co-directorship of Birkbeck Centre for Contemporary Theatre (with Professor Fintan Walsh), and the School of Arts' annual festival Birkbeck Arts Week (with Professor Sue Wiseman and Adam Castle, Events and Exhibitions Producer).
- Louise has co-organised Birkbeck Arts Week, the School of Arts' annual festival, since 2012. It is a multidisciplinary showcase of the research and practice of academics, artists, associates and students, consisting of talks, screenings, workshops, exhibitions, and performances. In recognition of their work, in 2021-22, Louise and fellow Arts Week colleagues won the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Learning and Teaching for their re-articulation of the festival as an entirely digital offering during the COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions of 2020 and 2021.
- Human Jam (2018-19) was a docu-theatre project exploring the impact of the HS2 development on Camden, originated by Camden People's Theatre (CPT). The St James' Gardens Project, an early version of the performance, was presented at Birkbeck Arts Week 2018. In collaboration with CPT, Louise negotiated support for Human Jam from Birkbeck's Public Engagement Research Innovation Fund, and connected MA Text and Performance students to the project as participatory workshop assistants.
- Twofold: On the Particularities of Working in Pairs (2017) was a two-day symposium Louise co-organised with artist Karen Christopher on the dynamics of working in pairs and in other collaborative modes across disciplines and contexts. It marked the conclusion of Karen Christopher's long-term series of duet performances entitled The Difference Between Home and Poem (Haranczak/Navarre Performance Projects). Louise co-organised the symposium, and curated a CHASE-funded training workshop for doctoral researchers entitled 'On the Particularity of Conference Presentation', inviting participants to consider how performance techniques might enhance the public delivery of their academic work.
- Conventions of Proximity in Art, Theatre and Performance (2016) was a day-and-a-half long symposium which Louise co-organised with Ben Cranfield (Department of Film, Media and Cultural Studies). The symposium traced the commonalities and differences between theatre, performance, installation, visual art and museological practices, and featured works from artists Peader Kirk and Teoma Jackson Naccarato, Bruno Roubicek, Caroline Astell-Burt, Sheila Ghelani, and Fourthland. Arising from the symposium's proceedings, Louise and Ben co-edited the journal edition Performance Research: On Proximity (2017).
- Gendering Austerity: Cultures of Coping and the Work of Consumption (2015) and Gendering Austerity: Cultures of Resilience and Resistance (2016) were two symposia which Louise co-organised with colleagues in Geography and Business. Louise invited theatre and performance artists and companies Alinah Azadeh, Paper Birds, Leo Butler and Clean Break to discuss their dramatisations of debt, parenting, poverty, precarity and criminal justice with and alongside scholars and activists.
- Being European: Before the Referendum and After the Referendum (2016) were two day-long festivals produced by Camden People’s Theatre in collaboration with Birkbeck Centre for Contemporary Theatre, University of Winchester and University of Kent. The festivals explored European identity, culture and politics before and after the referendum vote, bringing theatre and performance artists into dialogue with academics in law, politics, and theatre and performance. With colleagues, Louise co-curated the talks programme of both festivals, and co-curated the performance programme of After the Referendum.
- World Factory: the politics of conversation (2015) was an event exploring Metis Arts' World Factory (Young Vic, 2015) with Birkbeck academics in geography, law, business and management, media studies, and theatre and performance, presented at Arts Week 2015 to coincide with the run of the performance. Prior to the presentation of World Factory at the Young Vic, Louise liaised with Metis Arts and director Zoe Svendsen to produce workshop trials of the performance staged in the School of Arts performance studio attended by BA and MA students. Following the Arts Week event, Louise curated her colleagues' responses as a contribution to an edition of Contemporary Theatre Review: Interventions.
- Beyond Glorious: the Radical in Engaged Artistic Practices (2013) was a three-day event which Louise co-organised with artist Rajni Shah and writer and curator Mary Paterson addressing social engagement in performance, held at Birkbeck and Artsadmin, and supported by Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities. Along with colleagues, Louise contributed her reflections on the event to a text published in the 'Backpages' section of Contemporary Theatre Review, 24, 2 (2014).