Ben Levitas
Staff details
I practice an interdisciplinary approach to theatre, in particular integrating theatre history with cultural and political history – with a specialism in Irish studies. My approach is informed by a broad training: after gaining an MA in Modern Literature from Queen Mary, University of London, I was awarded my doctorate from the History Faculty, Oxford University, and went on to teach at the School of Politics at Queen's University Belfast before joining the Department of Theatre and Performance at Goldsmiths. My first book, 'The Theatre of Nation: Irish Drama and Cultural Nationalism 1890-1916' (Oxford : Clarendon Press, 2002) was awarded the Michael J. Durkan Prize. I also convene, with Professor Roy Foster (Queen Mary), Dr Lauren Arrington (Liverpool University), and Dr Simon Prince (Canterbury Christchurch) the London Irish Studies Seminar based at the School of Advance Studies, Senate House.
Research interests
My research focuses on connections between Irish literature, theatre and cultural and political history in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. W. B. Yeats is also a specialism. I am interested more generally in the avant-garde, theatrical modernism and connections between theories of performance and performativity. With the aid of a Leverhulme Fellowship, I am currently researching my next book, with the working title of Ireland, Theatre and Modernity - a project that seeks to assess the relationship between theatrical innovation and national identity in 20th century Ireland.
Publications
Article
The Censoring of The Ginger Man, London and Dublin 1959, or, the “nipple nuttiness” of J. P. Donleavy
Levitas, Ben. 2010. The Censoring of The Ginger Man, London and Dublin 1959, or, the “nipple nuttiness” of J. P. Donleavy. La recepció del teatre contemporani, XV, pp. 179-194. ISSN 1135-4178
Censorship and Self-Censure in the Plays of J. M. Synge
Levitas, Ben. 2006. Censorship and Self-Censure in the Plays of J. M. Synge. Princeton University Library Chronicle, 68(1-2(1-2), pp. 253-276. ISSN 00328456
Mirror Up to Nurture: J. M. Synge and His Critics
Levitas, Ben. 2004. Mirror Up to Nurture: J. M. Synge and His Critics. Modern Drama, 47(4)(4), pp. 572-584. ISSN 00267694
Plumbing the Depths: Irish Realism and the Working Class from Shaw to O'Casey
Levitas, Ben. 2003. Plumbing the Depths: Irish Realism and the Working Class from Shaw to O'Casey. Irish University Review, 33(1)(1), pp. 133-149. ISSN 00211427
Book
The Theatre of Nation: Irish Drama and Cultural Nationalism 1890-1916
Levitas, Ben. 2002. The Theatre of Nation: Irish Drama and Cultural Nationalism 1890-1916. Clarendon Press. ISBN 9780199253432
Book Section
The Theatre of Modernity
Levitas, Ben. 2017. The Theatre of Modernity. In: Vincent Sherry, ed. The Cambridge History of Modernism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 350-370. ISBN 978-1-107-03469-3
‘The Abbey and the Idea of a Theatre’
Levitas, Ben. 2016. ‘The Abbey and the Idea of a Theatre’. In: Nicholas Grene and Morash Christopher, eds. The Oxford Handbook of Modern Irish Theatre. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 41-57. ISBN 978-0-19-870613-7
‘A Temper of Misgiving: W. B. Yeats and the Ireland of Synge’s Time’
Levitas, Ben. 2016. ‘A Temper of Misgiving: W. B. Yeats and the Ireland of Synge’s Time’. In: Senia Pašeta, ed. Uncertain Futures: Essays About the Irish Past for Roy Foster. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 110-122. ISBN 978-0-19-870613-7
Modernist Experiments in Irish Theatre
Levitas, Ben. 2014. Modernist Experiments in Irish Theatre. In: Joe Cleary, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Irish Modernism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 111-127. ISBN 1-107-65581-2
Reading and the Irish Revival, 1891-1922
Levitas, Ben. 2011. Reading and the Irish Revival, 1891-1922. In: Clare Hutton and Patrick Walsh, eds. The Oxford History of the Irish Book: Volume 5: The Irish Book in English 1891-2000. 5 Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 43-69. ISBN 978-0-19-924911-4
J. M. Synge: European encounters
Levitas, Ben. 2009. J. M. Synge: European encounters. In: P. J. Matthews, ed. Cambridge Companion to J. M. Synge. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 77-91. ISBN 978-0-521-11010-5
The Abbey Opens: A First Night Revisited
Levitas, Ben. 2008. The Abbey Opens: A First Night Revisited. In: S. E. Wilmer, ed. National Theatres in a Changing Europe. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 73-83. ISBN 978-0-230-52109-4
Edited Book
W. B. Yeats in Context
Holdeman, David and Levitas, Ben, eds. 2010. W. B. Yeats in Context. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-897705-1
W. B. Yeats In Context
Levitas, Ben and Holdeman, David, eds. 2009. W. B. Yeats In Context. Cambridge: CUP. ISBN 978-0521897051
Irish Theatre in England
Cave, Richard and Levitas, Ben, eds. 2007. Irish Theatre in England. Dublin: Carysford Press. ISBN ISBN-10 1-904505-26-0