European Theatre Migrants in the Age of Empire

This edited volume constitutes the first historical study of the phenomenon of European theatre migration, and thus contributes in new and important ways to the formation of a historical discourse on theatre and migration. The hidden histories of European theatre migration that this book seeks to explore allow us to rethink global theatre history as a history of mobility with Europe as the point of departure rather than the point of arrival. It also allows the reader to challenge and to decenter a European self-understanding of insularity and a European cosmopolitanism ignorant of its imperial and colonial roots.

Berenika Szymanski-Düll is Professor in Theatre Studies with a focus on transnational theatre history at LMU Munich, Germany, and leads the research project T-MIGRANTS funded by the European Research Council. She is also the editor of the peer-reviewed journal Forum Modernes Theater . Berenika’s research is characterized by a strong interdisciplinary approach and situated at the crossroads of theatre, history and society. Recent publications include Theatre, Globalization and the Cold War (2017), and  Methoden der Theaterwissenschaft (2020), both co-edited with Christopher Balme.

Lisa Skwirblies  is Assistant Professor in Theatre and Performance Studies at the University of Amsterdam. She has been working as a postdoctoral researcher in the ERC project T-Migrants at the LMU Munich. Her research focusses on postcolonial and decolonial approaches towards theatre historiography. Recent publications include  Theaterwissenschaft postkolonial/dekolonial  (transcript 2022, co-edited with Azadeh Sharifi) and 'Colonial Theatrical' in the  Oxford Handbook of Politics and Performance  (2020, edited by Gluhovic et al.).