- Carnal acts: Decadence in theatre, performance and live art Alston, Adam. 2021. Carnal acts: Decadence in theatre, performance and live art. Volupté: Interdisciplinary Journal of Decadence Studies, 4(2), ii-xxiii. ISSN 2515-0073
- ‘Burn the witch’: Decadence and the occult in contemporary feminist performance Alston, Adam. 2021. ‘Burn the witch’: Decadence and the occult in contemporary feminist performance. Theatre Research International, 46(3), pp. 285-302. ISSN 0307-8833
- Immersive theatre in austerity Britain: Les Enfants Terribles’ riot in the Saatchi Gallery and the liquidation of differencEngine Alston, Adam. 2019. Immersive theatre in austerity Britain: Les Enfants Terribles’ riot in the Saatchi Gallery and the liquidation of differencEngine. Contemporary Theatre Review, 29(3), pp. 238-255. ISSN 1048-6801
- Immersive theatre and the aesthetics of decadence: on the ruined worlds of Punchdrunk, SHUNT and Hammer Film Productions Alston, Adam. 2017. Immersive theatre and the aesthetics of decadence: on the ruined worlds of Punchdrunk, SHUNT and Hammer Film Productions. Theatre and Performance Design, 3(4), pp. 199-217. ISSN 2332-2551
- Making Mistakes in Immersive Theatre: Spectatorship and Errant Immersion Alston, Adam. 2016. Making Mistakes in Immersive Theatre: Spectatorship and Errant Immersion. Journal of Contemporary Drama in English, 4(1), pp. 61-73.
- Performing labour in Look Left Look Right's Above and Beyond Alston, Adam. 2015. Performing labour in Look Left Look Right's Above and Beyond. Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, 20(1), pp. 50-61. ISSN 1356-9783
- Audience Participation and Neoliberal Value: Risk, agency and responsibility in immersive theatre Alston, Adam. 2013. Audience Participation and Neoliberal Value: Risk, agency and responsibility in immersive theatre. Performance Research, 18(2), pp. 128-138. ISSN 1352-8165
- Reflections on Intimacy and Narcissism in Ontroerend Goed's Personal Trilogy Alston, Adam. 2012. Reflections on Intimacy and Narcissism in Ontroerend Goed's Personal Trilogy. Performing Ethos: International Journal of Ethics in Theatre & Performance, 3(2), pp. 107-119. ISSN 1757-1979
- Contemporary Theatre "Philanthropy" and the Purchase of Participatory Privilege Alston, Adam and Daker, Rebecca. 2012. Contemporary Theatre "Philanthropy" and the Purchase of Participatory Privilege. Contemporary Theatre Review, 22(3), pp. 433-437. ISSN 1048-6801
- Damocles and the Plucked: Audience Participation and Risk in Half Cut Alston, Adam. 2012. Damocles and the Plucked: Audience Participation and Risk in Half Cut. Contemporary Theatre Review, 22(3), pp. 344-354. ISSN 1048-6801
- Funding, Product Placement and Drunkenness in Punchdrunk's The Black Diamond Alston, Adam. 2012. Funding, Product Placement and Drunkenness in Punchdrunk's The Black Diamond. Studies in Theatre and Performance, 32(2), pp. 193-208.
Adam Alston
Staff details
Links
Goldsmiths Research Centres/Groups
Adam’s research explores decadence and pleasure in performance and visual culture, as well as immersive theatre
My research cuts across two main areas: 'decadence' in 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 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
Teaching and supervision
Research interests
My current research looks at decadence and pleasure in 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 and internationally. I've been grouping relevant activities under the umbrella of the Staging Decadence project. Staging Decadence began its life as a two-year Arts and Humanities Research Council Fellowship, and continues to offer 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 the V&A, Rich Mix, Iklectik Arts Lab, and Queen Mary in London). Recent publications include a monograph titled Staging Decadence: Theatre, Performance, and the Ends of Capitalism (Bloomsbury 2023); a special issue of Volupté: Interdisciplinary Journal of Decadence Studies (https://volupte.gold.ac.uk/) on ‘Decadence and Performance’ (Winter 2021), co-edited with Alex Trott; and a new anthology of Decadent Plays co-edited with Jane Desmarais (Bloomsbury 2024). To find out more about Staging Decadence, visit: www.stagingdecadence.com
I've also been researching or advising on various projects exploring immersive theatre over the past 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.
Featured publications
2023:
Staging Decadence: Theatre, Performance, and the Ends of Capitalism
Winner of the Theatre and Performance Research Association's David Bradby Monograph Prize, 2024
2017: Theatre in the Dark: Shadow, Gloom and Blackout in Contemporary Theatre
2016: Beyond Immersive Theatre: Aesthetics, Politics and Productive Participation
Grants and awards
Staging Decadence: Decadent theatre in the long twentieth century
Staging Decadence: Decadent theatre in the long twentieth century was a 2-year research projected funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
Decadent Plays
Arts Council England supported translations for an anthology of Decadent Plays, published with Bloomsbury in 2024, as well as sharings of work in development.
Publications and research outputs
Article
- Decadent scenography: Angel Rose Denman, Hollywood Goth Alston, Adam. 2025. Decadent scenography: Angel Rose Denman, Hollywood Goth. Afterimage, ISSN 0300-7472
- "It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors": Dorian Gray 2.0 Alston, Adam. 2024. "It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors": Dorian Gray 2.0. Cusp: Late 19th-/Early 20th-Century Cultures, 2(2), pp. 339-346. ISSN 2768-637X
- Survival of the sickest: On decadence, disease and the performing body Alston, Adam. 2021. Survival of the sickest: On decadence, disease and the performing body. Volupté: Interdisciplinary Journal of Decadence Studies, 4(2), pp. 130-156. ISSN 2515-0073
Artist's Book
- Digesting Ritual Couch, Amanda and Alston, Adam. 2019. Digesting Ritual.
Book
- Staging Decadence: Theatre, Performance, and the Ends of Capitalism Alston, Adam. 2023. Staging Decadence: Theatre, Performance, and the Ends of Capitalism. London: Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 9781350237049
- Beyond Immersive Theatre: Aesthetics, Politics and Productive Participation Alston, Adam. 2016. Beyond Immersive Theatre: Aesthetics, Politics and Productive Participation. London: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9781137480446
Book Section
- Decadence and the Antitheatrical Prejudice 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
- Holstein’s hair: The Politics of Decadence in The Famous Lauren Barri Holstein’s Splat! Alston, Adam. 2019. Holstein’s hair: The Politics of Decadence in The Famous Lauren Barri Holstein’s Splat! In: Peter Eckersall and Helena Grehan, eds. The Routledge Companion to Theatre and Politics. Routledge. ISBN 9781138303485
- 'Tell no-one': Secret Cinema and the Paradox of Secrecy Alston, Adam. 2016. 'Tell no-one': Secret Cinema and the Paradox of Secrecy. In: Anna Harpin and Helen Nicholson, eds. Performance and Participation: Practices, Audiences, Politics. Red Globe Press (Macmillan International). ISBN 9781137393173
Digital
- Staging Decadence (project website) Alston, Adam and Ideh, Amelia. 2020. Staging Decadence (project website).
Edited Book
- Decadent Plays, 1890-1930 Alston, Adam and Desmarais, Jane H., eds. 2024. Decadent Plays, 1890-1930. London: Bloomsbury. ISBN 9781350171824
- Theatre in the Dark: Shadow, Gloom and Blackout in Contemporary Theatre Alston, Adam and Welton, Martin, eds. 2017. Theatre in the Dark: Shadow, Gloom and Blackout in Contemporary Theatre. London: Bloomsbury. ISBN 9781474251181
Edited Journal
- Volupté: Interdisciplinary Journal of Decadence Studies, Volume 4, Issue 2 (Winter 2021): Decadence and Performance Alston, Adam and Bickley Trott, Alexandra, eds. 2021. Volupté: Interdisciplinary Journal of Decadence Studies, Volume 4, Issue 2 (Winter 2021): Decadence and Performance, Volupté: Interdisciplinary Journal of Decadence Studies, 4(2). 2515-0073
Film/Video
- Nando Messias: decadence, performance and the archive (Staging Decadence residency - Goldsmiths) Alston, Adam; Messias, Nando and Williams, Sam. 2023. Nando Messias: decadence, performance and the archive (Staging Decadence residency - Goldsmiths).
- Staging Decadence (Documentary) Alston, Adam and Parry, Owen. 2022. Staging Decadence (Documentary).
Performance
- Staging Decadence: Decadent Costume Alston, Adam. 2024. Staging Decadence: Decadent Costume. In: "V&A Late, Feminist Futures", V&A, United Kingdom, 26 April 2024.
- Staging Decadence: Dress to Kill Alston, Adam. 2023. Staging Decadence: Dress to Kill. In: "Staging Decadence: Dress to Kill", Queen Mary, University of London, United Kingdom, 24 May 2023.
- Decadence @ Iklectik Alston, Adam; Condé, Alice and Prashar-Savoie, Anjali. 2022. Decadence @ Iklectik. In: "Decadence @ Iklectik", Iklectik Arts Lab, London, United Kingdom, 29 July 2022.
Professional projects
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/
Selected shorter publications
Blog posts
See the Staging Decadence Blog for various posts and artist interviews: https://www.stagingdecadence.com/blog
‘How to revel in rot’, Royal Academy Magazine (2024).
'On sick performance and theatre’s chronic maladies', Rimbaud & Verlaine Foundation Blog, 11 February 2021.
‘Safety, Risk and Speculation in the Immersive Industry’, ‘Interventions’, Contemporary Theatre Review, July 2019. Available at: https://www.contemporarytheatrereview.org/2019/safety-risk-and-speculation-in-the-immersive-industry/
Reviews:
‘It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors’: Dorian Gray 2.0’. Cusp: Late 19th-/Early 20th-Century Cultures (2024).
Scenes from Bourgeois Life. By Nicholas Ridout. Theatre Research International, 2021.
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).