DrKerrie Reading
- Senior Lecturer in Drama
- Email: k.reading2@bathspa.ac.uk
- School: Bath School of Music and Performing Arts
- Department: Drama
- Campus: Newton Park
- Website:
Personal statement
Kerrie joined the department in 2022, having previously worked at Cardiff Metropolitan University. She has been a freelance theatre practitioner for over 15 years, working across the fields of contemporary performance making and creativity within education.
Kerrie has a practice-based PhD from Aberystwyth University (2016) investigating how past approaches to making alternative performance can be considered today, with a focus on the venue and the archive of Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff.
She holds an MPhil in Performance (2013) from the University of Birmingham, exploring sites of performance with a particular emphasis on socially deprived urban areas. Her first degree (2007, MDrama) from the University of Kent focused on Contemporary Performance Practice which sparked her interest in devised work.
Kerrie has performed and exhibited performance work within the UK at various sites including forests, trains, factories and theatres with her former company, Needless Allies.
Between 2007 and 2012 she was an associate performer with theatre makers Stan's Cafe, touring internationally to festivals and venues. Kerrie has devised new performance works with Talking Birds, Cyrff Ystwyth and Ali Matthews, and as a solo performer.
Her current research is focused on the body as a site of performance, with an emphasis on trauma, and somatic practices.
Academic qualifications
- PhD
- MPhil
- MDrama
Professional memberships
- Fellow of Advance HE
Areas of expertise
- Making Performance
Areas of research supervision
- Site-Specific Practices
- Oral Histories and Archives
- Community Theatre/Applied Theatre
- Devised Theatre
Research and academic outputs
Chapter Arts Centre in the 1970s: a radical shift for theatre
book_section
Reading, K (2024) 'Chapter Arts Centre in the 1970s: a radical shift for theatre.' In: Hindson, C, Cochrane, C, Reid, T and Goddard, L, eds. The Routledge companion to twentieth century British theatre: volume II. Routledge, Abingdon. (Forthcoming)
A performatic archive
book_section
Reading, K (2016) 'A performatic archive.' In: Reason, M and Molle Lindelof, A, eds. Experiencing liveness in contemporary performance: interdisciplinary perspectives. Routledge, Abingdon, pp. 143-148. ISBN 9781138961593
Navigating new approaches for grassroot community theatre in a (post-) Covid world
article
Reading, K (2021) 'Navigating new approaches for grassroot community theatre in a (post-) Covid world.' Alicante Journal of English Studies / Revista Alicantina de Estudios Ingleses, 35. pp. 163-180. ISSN 0214-4808
Absence in/of the body: theatre praxis and embodied knowledge
conference_item
Reading, K (2021) Absence in/of the body: theatre praxis and embodied knowledge. In: TaPRA Conference, 6 - 10 September 2021, Liverpool Hope University, Liverpool, UK [online].
Re-placing the archive: a performative paper
conference_item
Reading, K (2015) Re-placing the archive: a performative paper. In: Performing Place 3 Symposium, 19 - 20 June 2015, University of Chichester, UK.
Emerging from the past: insights from re-constituted materials
conference_item
Reading, K (2014) Emerging from the past: insights from re-constituted materials. In: STR New Researchers' Network Inaugural Symposium: "Emergence", 20 May 2014, The Theatres Trust, London, UK.
Turning the key: unlocking the potential of the archive
conference_item
Reading, K (2014) Turning the key: unlocking the potential of the archive . In: TaPRA Postgraduate Conference, 2014, Manchester, UK.
The lasting efficacy of performance in public spaces, Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff
conference_item
Reading, K (2013) The lasting efficacy of performance in public spaces, Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff. In: FIRT/IFTR Conference: Re-Routing Performance, 22 - 26 July 2013, Institut del Teatre, Barcelona, Spain.
The tyranny of participation?
conference_item
Reading, K (2012) The tyranny of participation? In: TaPRA Conference, 5 - 7 September 2012, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK.
Understanding the contemporary value of past methods of producing theatre: toward a tripartite approach to venue-performance-document
thesis
Reading, K (2017) Understanding the contemporary value of past methods of producing theatre: toward a tripartite approach to venue-performance-document. PhD thesis, Aberystywth University.
The guided tour in the under-celebrated urban space
thesis
Reading, K (2013) The guided tour in the under-celebrated urban space. M.Phil thesis, University of Birmingham.
Whispers, echoes and tall tales
performance
Reading, K (2015) Whispers, echoes and tall tales. Aberystwyth University, UK, June 2015.
Turning the spotlight on the people
performance
Reading, K (2014) Turning the spotlight on the people. Camden People's Theatre, London, UK, 18 - 19 September 2014.
Playing (at) Woyzeck
performance
Reading, K (2013) Playing (at) Woyzeck. Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff, UK, 2013.