Danny Braverman
Danny is an award-winning playwright and storyteller, specialising in disability, community and young people’s theatre.
Staff details
Danny came to Goldsmiths following a 30-year career as a theatre-maker, teacher and producer. He has worked in many contexts – including theatres, the street, schools, tents, prisons and community settings – however his work has mostly been in the field known as “applied theatre” or socially-engaged practice.
As a writer and performer, Danny’s solo show Wot? No Fish!! won the Brian Way Playwriting Award (2013) and was named in Lyn Gardner’s Top 10 Theatre shows of 2014 in The Guardian. Danny has also recently been working with Goldsmiths’ alumnus Nick Cassenbaum, directing his critically-acclaimed Bubble Schmeissis and co-writing and directing My Kind of Michael, on tour in 2019.
As a theatre-maker and facilitator Danny has worked with a range of companies including Theatre Royal Stratford East, Battersea Arts Centre, Theatre Centre, London Bubble, National Theatre and Graeae. He has also been Chief Executive of the Disability Arts charity The Orpheus Centre and a Senior Arts Council Officer, and aims to bring the range of this experience into his teaching and research.
As Senior Tutor for our undergraduates, Danny is responsible for supporting students facing all of the personal issues that can impact on their studies. He expresses, “This role is particularly gratifying at graduation, when I witness the very many students that have overcome significant hurdles to obtain their degrees.”
Teaching
Danny has taught learners at all stages of their development, from infants to PhD students. As well as working in universities, he has taught at conservatoires such as Guildhall, Central School of Speech and Drama and Rose Bruford and in adult education and further education colleges.
“I see my work as a teacher and as an artist as two sides of the same coin,” Danny explains, “I aim to teach creatively, making learning interesting and engaging and feel that I’m always learning from my students too.”
Danny teaches across undergraduate programmes and is a Programme Director for our B.A. Performance, Politics and Society Degree. Amongst his areas of expertise in teaching are Theatre-in-Education, Disability Theatre, Dramaturgy and, Storytelling.
His supervision interests and expertise include: Disability theatre, popular and political theatre dramaturgy, youth theatre, participatory theatre, TiE and drama-in-education.
Publications and research outputs
Performance
Braverman, Danny and Cassenbaum, Nick. 2018. My Kind of Michael. In: "My Kind of Michael", Yard Theatre, United Kingdom.
Braverman, Danny. 2016. Something Inside So Strong. In: "Something Inside So Strong", Arcola Theatre, United Kingdom, 2016.
Braverman, Danny and Cassenbaum, Nick. 2016. Bubble Schmeisis. In: "Bubble Schmeissis", JW3, United Kingdom, 2015-2019.
Project
Braverman, Danny and Hunt, Ava. 17 November 2018 Pushing The Boundaries.
Braverman, Danny. 2016-2019 Dialogue Across Difference: A Dramaturgical Framework.
Braverman, Danny and Siffre, Labi. 2016. Something Inside So Strong.
Article
Braverman, Danny and Hunt, Ava. 2020. Creating Community Resilience: Theatre for Young Audiences and the Mental Health Crisis. Drama Research, ISSN 2040-2228
Braverman, Danny. 2019. Re-igniting the radical legacy in Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA): How the work of David Johnston and Theatre Centre in the 1980s can inform current practice. Drama, 25(2), pp. 37-43. ISSN 0967-4454
Braverman, Danny. 2013. Storyteller, Medic or Missionary. Huffington Post,
Book
Braverman, Danny. 2002. Playing a Part: Drama & Citizenship. Stoke-on-Trent: Trentham Books (Institute of Education). ISBN 9781858567181
Book Section
Braverman, Danny. 2022. "This Island's Mine": University Teaching as Inclusive Dramaturgy. In: Abby Day; Lois Lee; David S. P. Thomas and James Spickard, eds. Diversity, Inclusion, and Decolonization: Practical Tools for Improving Teaching, Research and Scholarship. Bristol: Bristol University Press, pp. 64-80. ISBN 9781529216646
Braverman, Danny. 2021. Young People, Musical Theatre and Identity. In: Nicholas McGuinn; Norio Ikeno; Ian Davies and Edda Sant, eds. International Perspectives on Drama and Citizenship: Acting Globally. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 29-38. ISBN 9780367524876
Braverman, Danny. 2013. Standing on the Shoulders of Giants. In: Susan Croft; Jessica Higgs and UNSPECIFIED, eds. Re-Staging Revolutions: Alternative Theatre in Lambeth and Camden 1968-88. London: Unfinished Histories, pp. 42-43.
Audio
Braverman, Danny. 2018. Danny Braverman - Spare Tyre Interview.
Braverman, Danny. 2016. The Making of Wot? No Fish!! - Translating Outsider Art Into Theatrical Storytelling.
Conference or Workshop Item
Braverman, Danny and Hunt, Ava. 2019. 'Towards Community Resilience: Theatre for Young Audiences and the Mental Health Crisis'. In: Confronting the Present: (Re-)presenting Childhood. Kristainsand, Norway 2 - 5 September 2019.
Professional Activity
Braverman, Danny. 2018. Peacemaker - Research & Celebration.
Braverman, Danny. 2013. Brian Way Playwriting Award 2013.
Report
Braverman, Danny. 2013. The Secret's Out: How Deaf and disabled artists working outdoors can build on the successes of 2012. Documentation. Emergency Exit Arts.
Braverman, Danny. 2012. Inclusive Theatre for Young Audiences. Project Report. TYA-UK.
Other
Braverman, Danny. 2020. A Different Way - Evaluation. Unpublished.
Research Interests
Danny’s research is mostly through his practice and focuses on the idea that performance is a powerful tool to create a “dialogue across difference”. To that end, he has written a musical for young people, Something Inside So Strong, based on the songs of singer-songwriter and activist Labi Siffre. In 2019, Danny received a grant from Goldsmiths’ TaLIC department to explore how drama/theatre can be better used for inclusive education, including in higher education. He is also working with theatre-maker Daryl Beeton on A Different Way symposium for 2020, connecting performing arts for young audiences with Disabled artists and young people.