Professor secures prestigious £314,000 research grant
- Wednesday, October 9, 2019
Professor Clare McManus has secured a Leverhulme Research Project Grant worth £314,000 for her project 'Engendering the Stage: The Records of Early Modern Performance'.
Professor McManus will lead the project, 'Engendering the Stage: The Records of Early Modern Performance' with Professor Lucy Munro from King’s College London. The project seeks to prove that, despite the preconception that Shakespearean theatre was a world mainly inhabited by men, a much more diverse range of performers played a key part.
Previous studies have focused mainly on the Shakespearean stage, and have been based upon evidence that hasn’t been re-visited since the early 20th century. The research team will revisit the archives, focusing on the period between Mary Tudor’s accession (1553) and Charles II’s injunction against boy-actresses (1662), and will look for evidence of the contribution of female, male and, in current terms, non-binary performers to English theatre and performance culture.
This evidence will be used to offer new understandings of one of the most important periods of English literature and theatre, providing a new history that accounts for participation across the gender spectrum, which stands to shift what we know about early modern drama, including Shakespeare.
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