Nic Leonhardt – Global Theatre Histories

28/01/202328/01/2023

New publication out: “Theatre for Development in Africa”, by Christopher Balme and Abdul Karim Hakib (eds.)

Sometimes a prolonged silence means a productive phase…. And then it is worth waiting for more news. I am very pleased to announce here today that there is a new publication from our ranks, Theatre for Development in Africa. Historical and Institutional Perspectives, by Christopher B. Balme and Abdul Karim Hakib.

Karim is a former PhD student in the ERC project Developing Theatre. He defended his thesis in 2022. Christopher Balme is the former principal investigator of the now officially expired, yet still active project of the same name.
When the ERC project Developing Theatre was designed back then, it quickly became clear that a project on the concept of “Theatre for Development” in Africa could not be missing. At the time, we managed to recruit Karim Hakib from Ghana, a true expert on the subject.
From the cover of the book:

“Theatre for Development is one of the most dynamic and controversial theatre movements on the global South. Emerging in Southern Africa in the 1970s to address social and economic problems using theatrical techniques, today it is taught in theatre departments across sub-Saharan Africa and employed in numerous contexts from health care to agriculture. This book investigates the emergence of TfD from its beginnings to its transformation into a coherent organisational field capable of attracting significant governmental and NGO funding. Drawing on leading African scholars and practitioners the volume examines the complex transnational processes that led to the institutionalization of Theatre for Development.”

The book is available to read both digitally and in print.

Congratulations to the authors – and a stimulating read to our followers!

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°° Christopher B. Balme, Abdul Karim Hakib. (eds.). Theatre for Development in Africa. Historical and Institutional Perspectives. Hildesheim, München: OLMS 2023.https://epub.ub.uni-muenchen.de/93602/

24/10/202124/10/2021

New Book Out: Theatre Across Oceans. Mediators of Transatlantic Exchange (1890-1925) (N. Leonhardt)

We are delighted to announce that a new monograph developed within the framework of the Centre for Global Theatre History just came out. Theatre Across Oceans. Mediators of Transatlantic Exchange (1890-1925) by theatre historian Nic Leonhardt was recently published with Palgrave Macmillan. The book allows the reader to enter and understand the infrastructural ‘backstage area’ of global cultural mobility during the years between 1890 and 1925. Located within the research fields of global history and theory, the geographical focus of the book is a transatlantic one, based on the active exchange in this phase between North and South America and Europe. Emanating from a rich body of archival material, the study argues that this exchange was essentially facilitated and controlled by professional theatrical mediators (agents, brokers), who have not been sufficiently researched within theatre or historical studies. The low visibility of mediators in the scientific research is in diametrical contrast to the enormous power that they possessed in the period dealt with in this book.

• Nic Leonhardt: Theatre Across Oceans. Mediators of Transatlantic Exchange (1890-1925). London: Palgrave Macmillan (Transnational Theatre Histories)

13/07/202113/07/2021

”We have a double pandemic here” – A conversation with Clara de Andrade & Gustavo Guenzburger from Brazil – A new episode of the Theatrescapes Podcast

We are happy to announce that we just launched a new episode of our Theatrescapes Podcast ! This time, Theatrescapes host Nic Leonhardt speaks with Clara de Andrade and Gustavo Guenzburger from Rio, Brazil, about the challenges COVID-19 as well the political situation in Brazil have brought to both their artistic and academic work since then.

Clara de Andrade and Gustavo Guenzburger are theatre makers and theatre researchers from Rio, Brazil. The Centre for Global Theatre History has a long-standing relationship with the couple and UNIRIO. In early 2020, Clara and Gustavo were Visiting Fellows of the Centre and of the European Research Council (ERC) funded project “Developing Theatre” at the Institute of Theatre Studies at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich. When they were about to return in March, the pandemic broke out …

Clara de Andrade, Brazilian Theatre Researcher, Dancer and Actress

Gustavo Guenzburger, Brazilian Theatre Researcher, Director and Activist

Clara de Andrade is a Brazilian actor, singer, teacher and researcher in Theatre Arts. Her main field of research is the transnational networks of the Theatre of the Oppressed and Theatre for Development. She has been working and researching at institutions such as UNIRIO, Sorbonne Nouvelle (Paris 3) and was Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Global Theatre Histories & Developing Theatre Project at LMU Munich.

Gustavo Guenzburger is a Brazilian artist, activist, teacher and researcher in Theatre Arts. His main field of interest are transnationality and modes of production in theatre. He has been teaching and researching at institutions such as UNIRIO, UERJ, Sorbonne Nouvelle (Paris 3) and was Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Global Theatre Histories & Developing Theatre Project at LMU Munich.

The Theatrescapes Podcast is produced by the Centre for Global Theatre Research and the ERC project Developing Theatre (GA No. 694559) Pat LMU Munich.

The Podcast episodes are available here, on iTunes, Google Podcast and Spotify.

Please follow our updates here on this blog, on Facebook and Twitter.

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Special thanks go to our colleague Aydin Alinejadsomeh who conjures everything around the technology.

We would also like to thank the Legon Palwine Band from Accra, Ghana, for letting us use their great music for the podcast!

31/05/202101/06/2021

Theatrescapes – GTH Centre Launches the first Podcast on the Histories of Global Theatre

The audio podcast Theatrescapes focuses on the Global Histories of Theatre and the Histories of Global Theatre. It is produced by the Centre for Global Theatre History at LMU Munich.

The Centre for Global Theatre comes up with a new format: in June, we launch our audio podcast: Theatrescapes !

Theatrescapes takes up those topics that have engaged the Centre’s researchers and its international network since its beginning: Stories and case studies about theatre in a global context, mainly from a historical perspective, but also reaching into the present. The podcast is dedicated to conversations and book reviews about the global or transnational histories of the performing arts, of drama, dance, opera, circus, etc., from the early modern period to the 21^stcentury. Guests and interview partners include scholars and artists, theatre and cultural practitioners from around the world. At Theatrescapes, the world is at the microphones for the world.

The variety of topics at Theatrescapes is unique and requires curation. The podcast is therefore structured in series of 3-5 episodes each, dedicated to areas of focus.

A short intro episode in early June will be followed by the first series, Theatre (Research) in Times of Covid, that explores how the global pandemic situation has impacted theatre practice and research. In conversation with theatre scholar Nic Leonhardt, host of the Theatrescapes podcast, theatre practitioners and arts supporters, researchers and faculty members from South America, Asia and Europe describe challenges and opportunities of that special time period that is making history.

We welcome listeners from around the world!

If you have suggestions for topics and conversation partners, please do not hesitate to contact us!

Special thanks go to our colleague Aydin Alinejadsomeh who conjures everything around the technology.

We would also like to thank the Legon Palwine Band from Accra, Ghana, for letting us use their great music for the podcast!

Theatrescapes is available here, on iTunes, Google Podcast and Spotify.

Please follow our updates here on this blog, on Facebook and Twitter.

30/05/202101/07/2021

New article out: C. Balme & N. Leonhardt on “The Rockefeller Connection”

“The Rockefeller Connection: Visualizing theatrical networks in the Cultural Cold War“, in Comparatio, Vol. 12, 2, 2020, p. 127-144.

In this co-authored article, Christopher Balme and Nic Leonhardt (both ERC project Developin g Theatre at LMU Munich) examine how the Rockefeller Foundation funded theatrical initiatives in developing countries: the Philippines and Nigeria. Using visualization software, in this case the open source application Gephi, the authors demonstrate how personal and institutional networks underpinned the cultural, specifically, theatrical development strategy of the foundation. The paper discusses the principles underpinning historical network analysis and analyzes two case studies, Severino Montano’s Arena Theatre in Manila, and the establishment of a School of Drama at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria.

This article has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No. 694559 – DevelopingTheatre)  and is available in the open access format.

12/11/2019

GTH Journal, Vol 3, 2, 2019 out now – Special Issue on Philanthropy and Developing Theatre

The fall issue 2019 of the Journal of Global Theatre History is now available online. It is dedicated to the theme Developing Theatre and Philanthropy and gathers contributions from Christopher Balme, Jan Creutzenberg and Nic Leonhardt. All three articles address case studies of promoting theatre practice and education through the Rockefeller Foundation in the 1950s and 1960s. Christopher Balme writes about expert networks, philanthropy and theatre studies in Nigeria, 1959–1969; Jan Creutzenberg illuminates the support of Yu Chi-jin and the Seoul Drama Center in Seoul, Korea. Nic Leonhardt‘s article, “The Rockefeller Roundabout of Funding” focuses on the promotion of Filipino theatre maker and playwright Severino Montano by the Rockefeller Foundation.
The GTH Journal is an open access journal published by the Centre of Global Theatre Histories with Nic Leonhardt and Christopher Balme as its editors in chief.

23/05/2019

Neues Forschungsprojekt “Theatersteuerung nach 1918” im SfB Vigilanzkulturen, gefördert durch die DFG

Projekt unter der Leitung von Prof. Dr. Christopher Balme und PD Dr. Nic Leonhardt

Die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) hat am 22. Mai 2019 den Sonderforschungsbereich1369, Vigilanzkulturen bewilligt, einen auf 12 Jahre angelegten interdisziplinären Forschungsverbund an der LMU München.

Nic Leonhardt und Christopher Balme werden im Rahmen des SfB 1369 das Teilprojekt Theatersteuerung: Theater, Politik und Öffentlichkeit nach 1918 in Deutschland leiten. Das Projekt beschäftigt sich mit der Frage, auf welche Weise sich das Verhältnis zwischen Theater, Politik und Öffentlichkeit zwischen 1918 und 1936 durch die Aufhebung der Zensur, verstärktes finanzielles Engagement der öffentlichen Hand und Kontrolle durch die öffentliche Meinung, verstanden hier als Presse und Theaterpublikum, veränderte. Theater, so argumentieren wir, lässt sich als Ort der erhöhten, konzentrierten Aufmerksamkeit fassen und somit als (analytischer) Schauplatz einer gesteigerten Responsibilisierung der politischen und künstlerischen Akteure gegenüber dem Publikum.

Dem Projekt sind für die erste Förderphase zwei Doktorarbeiten zugeordnet, nämlich Decensorship: Theaterskandale und Öffentlichkeit, ein Teilbereich der von Sabrina Kanthak bearbeitet werden wird, sowie Vom Hofamt zur charismatischen Herrschaft: Der Intendant als Vigilanzfigur, ein Projekt, dem sich künftig Heili Schwarz-Schütte widmet.

Das Projekt nimmt seinen Anlauf zum 1. Juli 2019. Wir freuen uns sehr über die Bewilligung.

09/10/2017

new series: A Cultural History of Theatre (ed. C. B. Balme & T. C. Davis), Bloomsbury

Edited by Tracy C. Davis and Christopher B. Balme, this new Cultural History of Theatre series offers an insightful survey from ancient times (500 BCE) to the present. The set of six volumes covers a span of 2,500 years, tracing the complexity of the interactions between theatre and culture.
Each volume discusses the same themes in its chapters, namely Institutional Frameworks, Social Functions, Sexuality and Gender, The Environment of Theatre, Circulation, Interpretations, Communities of Production, Repertoire and Genres, Technologies of Performance, and Knowledge Transmission: Media and Memory.

Volume 1: A Cultural History of Theatre in Antiquity (Edited by Martin Revermann)
Volume 2: A Cultural History of Theatre in the Middle Ages (Edited by Jody Enders)
Volume 3: A Cultural History of Theatre in the Early Modern Age (Edited by Robert Henke)
Volume 4: A Cultural History of Theatre in the Age of Enlightenment (Edited by Mechele Leon)
Volume 5: A Cultural History of Theatre in the Age of Empire (Edited by Peter Marx)
Volume 6: A Cultural History of Theatre in the Modern Age (Edited by Kim Solga)

Five GTH Centre members contributed to volume 5, A Cultural History of theatre in the Age of Empire: Jim Davis, Nic Leonhardt, Derek Miller, Stanca Scholz-Cionca, and Laurence Senelick.

12/01/2017

“Developing Theatre” – Presentation of our new ERC Research Project

header_worldtheatreday — http://www.world-theatre-day.org/

Developing Theatre: Building Expert Networks for Theatre in Emerging Countries after 1945 reads the title of our new ERC funded research project under the umbrella of the Centre for Global Theatre History.

On Wednesday, 18 January, 2017, 12 (s.t.)-2pm the project’s leaders and researchers will introduce to the agenda of Developing Theatre at the Institute of Theatre Studies, Georgenstrasse 11, 80799 Munich, room #109.

Abstract

This new research project, sponsored by the European Research Council, proposes a fundamental re-examination of the historiography of theatre in emerging countries after 1945. It investigates the institutional factors that led to the emergence of professional theatre in the post-war period throughout the decolonizing world. The particular focus will be on the massive involvement of internationally coordinated ‘development’ and ‘modernization’ programs both East and West. The project will introduce the concepts of epistemic community, expert networks and techno-politics to theatre historical research as a means to historicize theatre within transnational and transcultural paradigms and examine its imbrication in globalization processes.

With contributions by Christopher Balme (PI), Nic Leonhardt (Associate Director & Senior Researcher), Gautam Chakrabarti (PostDoc), Rebecca Sturm (PhD candidate).

The project website will be online soon.

Contact: n.leonhardt @ lmu.de