Adam’s research explores decadence and transgression in contemporary performance, as well as immersive theatre
My research cuts across two main areas: 'decadence' in theatre, performance and visual culture, and immersive theatre.
Most recently I've been working on a project called 'Staging Decadence', which is a platform for exploring and sharing theatre and live art that lends itself to decadence as an embodied and enacted practice. It was made possible thanks to a two-year grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council, and it's now an ongoing initiative for fostering new collaborations, publications and events. Keep an eye out for new blog posts, interviews, films, workshops and live performance events on the website: www.stagingdecadence.com
I'm also still involved in exploring immersive theatre and immersive experiences more broadly, primarily in supervisory and advisory capacities. It's a topic I've written about fairly extensively, and please do reach out if this there's a project you'd like to discuss.
Academic qualifications
PhD Drama and Theatre, Royal Holloway 2013
MA International Performance Research, Universities of Warwick and Amsterdam 2010
BA Theatre and Performance Studies, University of Warwick 2008
My current research looks at decadence and transgression in theatre, performance and visual culture, and includes strands exploring twenty-first-century theatre practice, drag, cabaret, burlesque, costume, and a broad range of live art practices in the UK, US, and Japan. This research has almost all being linked to a project called 'Staging Decadence', which began its life as a two-year Fellowship funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. I've recently published a monograph titled Staging Decadence: Theatre, Performance, and the Ends of Capitalism (Bloomsbury 2023), which looks at how theatre makers and live artists have been over-identifying with the rhythms of twenty-first-century capitalism. I've also co-edited a special issue of Volupté: Interdisciplinary Journal of Decadence Studies (https://volupte.gold.ac.uk/) on ‘Decadence and Performance’ (Winter 2021), and a new anthology of Decadent Plays co-edited with Jane Desmarais will be published with Bloomsbury in January 2024. The Staging Decadence project continues to serve as a platform for producing workshops, films, blog posts, interviews, seminars, and a range of live performance events (previous venues include HERE Arts Centre in New York, and Rich Mix, Iklectik Arts Lab and Queen Mary in London). To find out more, visit: www.stagingdecadence.com
I've also been researching or advising on projects exploring immersive theatre for fifteen years. My first book, Beyond Immersive Theatre, was published with Palgrave Macmillan in 2016, and came off the back of a number of articles and chapters that you can find below. I also worked collaboratively with Martin Welton between 2014 and 2017 on a related project exploring darkness and obscured vision in theatre and performance, which led to the publication of Theatre in the Dark: Shadow, Gloom and Blackout in Contemporary Theatre (Bloomsbury, 2017). I continue to supervise and advise on immersive projects, and welcome any enquiries.
Staging Decadence: Decadent theatre in the long twentieth century Staging Decadence: Decadent theatre in the long twentieth century is a two-year research projected funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. It looks at how theatre makers have been engaging
Decadent Plays
Arts Council England are generously supporting translations for an anthology of Decadent Plays, which will be published with Bloomsbury in 2023, as well as sharings of work in development.
Alston, Adam. 2023. Decadence and the Antitheatrical Prejudice. In: Dustin Friedman and Kristin Mahoney, eds. Nineteenth-Century Literature in Transition: The 1890s. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 264-284. ISBN 9781009063852
I am a Creative Associate with the devised, science-led theatre company Curious Directive. All of our projects grow out of close collaborations with a range of specialists including health workers and advisers, neuroscientists and even myrmecologists (who study ants). You can find out more about the company here: https://www.curiousdirective.com/
More recently I've been working as a dramaturg with Studio Will Dutta on a new project called Pleasure Gardens, which is a multimedia work exploring decadence and excess in digital cultures. http://studiowilldutta.art/
I also served as a trustee of the 'recovering theatre company' Fast Familiar (formerly fanSHEN) from 2019 until 2023. Fast Familiar's work is experience-led, and usually incorporates participatory or interactive forms of audience engagement using innovative technologies and experimental dramaturgies. You can find out more about them here: https://fastfamiliar.com/
Book reviews:
Scenes from Bourgeois Life. By Nicholas Ridout. Theatre Research International. Forthcoming.
Spellbound: Magic, Ritual and Witchcraft, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 31 August 2018 – 6 January 2019’, Volupté: Interdisciplinary Journal of Decadence Studies, 1 (2) (2018), 155-60.
Authenticity in Contemporary Theatre and Performance: Make it Real. By Daniel Schulze. New Theatre Quarterly 34 (1): 91.
The Art of Light on Stage. By Yaron Abulafia. Theatre and Performance Design, 2.3/4 (2016): 341-42.
Audience Participation in Theatre: Aesthetics of the Invitation. By Gareth White. Contemporary Theatre Review 24.1 (2014): 115-16.
Fair Play: Art, Performance and Neoliberalism. By Jen Harvie. Theatre Research International. (2014).
Immersive Theatres: Intimacy and Immediacy in Contemporary Performance. By Josephine Machon. Theatre Research International (2014).
Performance in the Blockades of Neoliberalism: Thinking the Political Anew. By Maurya Wickstrom. Performance Research 19.5 (2014).