School of Creative Arts, Film and Media (SCAFM)

I am Senior Lecturer in Applied Theatre, having joined the university in September 2009. My research interests focus on applied theatre and puppetry. For many years now I have been using puppetry in a number of unusual settings to engage groups in work that can be considered applied theatre. This work has opened up many different and surprising results in workshops. I am interested in describing this work critically and developing a developed study of puppetry as part of applied theatre in the future.

Current Research

PhD Thesis^{[Back to top]}

Smith, M. (In preparation). Speaking the unspeakable. How can puppetry be engaged as a tool in applied theatre practice?

Projects^{[Back to top]}

I am presently engaged in the Cultural Olympiad leading up to 2012, with a collaborative project between SCAFM, the Mary Rose School, Portsmouth, The Learning Carnival Centre, Isle of Wight, and BBC Big Screen. The focus of this will be youth/community involvement and disability. It is hoped the event will provoke discussions with the public and participants about the Olympics.

I am currently engaged in working with New Theatre Royal in their memories project, and with Spinnaker Tower, Portsmouth, preparing students in performing historical interpretations of local characters in the tower.

Conference Papers^{[Back to top]}

Smith, Matt (In preparation). Risky sites/risky business: exploring the role of the tutor in enabling performance work in outdoor locations. Palatine Symposium: Cross-cultural exchange and drama pedagogy. Bath: Bath Spa University.

Smith, M. (In preparation). Journeys from offender to citizen, through participation. NYU Forum on citizenship and applied theatre.New York: NYU.

Smith, M. (In preparation). Puppets with a purpose. [Paper and workshop]. Theatre Applications. London: Central School of Speech and Drama.

Publications

Publications since 2008 [IR]