In recent years, theatre-makers have experimented widely with how to record and distribute live performance through digital media and platforms. Since the return of live, staged performances, profound questions remain about the role, opportunities, business models and implications of digitally-mediated theatre, and the ways in which theatres do – or do not – produce digital ‘content’. 

In partnership with the Traverse Theatre, this research will study how innovative contemporary practices for digitally-mediated theatre production can be applied to create unique, innovative and compelling audience experiences. It aims to explore how digital theatre assets and content can be produced and distributed for online audiences, while complementing live staged productions, enabling new forms of value co-creation for theatre-makers and their audiences. 

The findings will help guide theatre-makers and performers across the cultural sector in navigating digital futures, building on learning and opportunities developed during the pandemic, while looking forward to engaging with new digital innovations, in AI, gaming and immersive technologies.

This is a multidisciplinary research area, and we are keen to receive applications from people with a wide range of experience and from across the academic disciplines, or with relevant industry expertise / creative practice. For example, you may come from a background in arts and cultural management, and wish to engage with the design of new technologies and services for live performance. Or, you may have a background in design, digital media, or digital humanities, and be interested to apply your skills in the domain of theatre and live performance. Or you may be a practitioner, working in theatre, with a desire to undertake academic study related to your work. Candidates from entirely different academic disciplines are also welcome, particularly if they have relevant professional experience.

Regardless of previous specialism, the successful applicant for the studentship should (by September 2024) have a First or high Upper-Second class honours degree and, preferably, a Masters-level qualification or comparable professional experience.  A key aim of this studentship is to help develop a future research leader in this important domain. As such, candidates should expect to learn new, cross-disciplinary skills during the project, including those related to qualitative and design methods, engagement with data-driven and digital technologies, theatrical production and arts management. 

Closing date for applications: 17 April 2024 
Interview date: 8 May 2024 (interviews will be held online)
Start date: September 2024