Category:Kim Gilchrist

I am a Disglair Lecturer in English Literature at Cardiff. I write, teach and think about Shakespeare and the wider contexts of early modern drama, especially popular culture, the performance of history and the complex interconnections between drama's reception by its original spectators and readers in performance and print, particularly the ways in which factors such as literacy and 'textual community' could shape profoundly different perceptions in different individuals and groups.

I’m particularly excited by discovering, exploring and teaching forgotten and lesser-known plays and texts from the period, especially popular depictions of world history (real and fake) and romance narratives. Looking wider enables engagement with a wide range of methodological approaches, including work on ‘lost’ plays, repertory studies and print culture.

I’m increasingly interested in the ways in which attending to evidence of drama’s materiality – prop lists, stage directions and account books – might help us push towards new understandings of the presentation of the spectacular and non-human on the early modern stage. My current work focuses on romance drama and its contexts beyond the London-based professional drama, specifically regional, amateur, and international performance.