Impact case study database

Across the healthcare sector, and in Geriatrics in particular, there is a push towards a model of care which places the individual’s holistic needs at the centre, to complement the traditional medical model. The field of medical humanities offers interdisciplinary perspectives to understanding what health and wellbeing means to individuals and communities. Barry’s research is shaping this field by directly informing healthcare professionals’ understanding of patients’ subjective experience of time and ageing. Particularly significant for dementia patients, Barry’s approach is unique in bringing insights on personhood and subjective experiences from modernist literature to bear on professional practice to help practitioners better understand their patients and their conditions.

Training and Workshops for Healthcare Professionals

Barry has shared her research with doctors, psychiatrists and psychologists at events held at the University of Warwick (2016, 2018); University of Bergen (2016); the Institute of Psychiatry in London (2014); the annual meetings of the International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics (Gothenburg 2019), and the British Geriatrics Society, the professional body of geriatric medicine and healthcare (Leicester 2019). Additionally, Barry organized and spoke at events at Warwick (March 2015, October 2017, June 2018), Exeter (April 2015), Bristol (July 2016) and Leicester (November 2019) involving doctors, neuropsychologists, neuroscientists and psychiatrists (approximately 200 total attendees across all events). These provided Barry a platform to share the ways in which her research into the concept of time (experience of time in ageing, mental illness, care) can improve understandings of patient experience. In September 2015, Barry co-organized and spoke about ageing, modernism and psychoanalysis at a symposium at the New York Institute of Psychoanalysis. This was attended by 114 analysts and psychotherapists, and parts of the event were accredited as Continuing Professional Development. One attendee commented that ‘very often we isolate the knowledge of psychoanalysis and clinical knowledge from the larger cultural context, so it was a treat to hear presentations that helped to broaden the perspective’ (5.1). Another commented that following the symposium they intended ‘to broaden my play therapy style with patients’ (5.1). Barry also delivered a session at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York to approximately 20 therapists and psychiatrists on Samuel Beckett, temporality and mental disorder (September 2015). Through Barry’s research insights and training, future patients receiving psychotherapy will benefit from enhanced treatment and care from their clinicians, through an enhanced understanding and deeper empathy of their subjective experience of mental disorder.

In July 2018 the Norwegian Research Council funded Barry to organize the ‘Living a Good life in Older Age’ symposium at Warwick, involving clinicians, medical ethicists, psychiatrists, geriatricians, sociologists, librarians, chaplains and those in the charity sector (Campaign to End Loneliness). A Professor of Old Age Psychiatry at the University of Bristol reflected that attending sessions run by Barry in the ‘Living a Good Life in Older Age’ symposium convinced him that the ‘ways we represent dementia must continuously be challenged and seen from different or at least broader perspectives’. He reported changing his thinking on issues such as sleep deprivation and isolation in old age, both of which he newly saw as political and human rights issues (5.2). The talks were also made publically available on YouTube, and have had a combined total of 1,404 views as of 04.08.2020 (5.3).

Barry was asked on the strength of ‘Living a Good Life in Older Age’ to run a programme of arts events for the British Geriatric Society Fringe (BGS Fringe) to offer alternative humanities-based perspectives on older age care at the British Geriatrics Society 2019 Autumn Meeting, attended by approximately 3,000 geriatricians and healthcare professionals. In feedback from Barry’s talk on Parkinson’s disease and theatre, all respondents indicated that they ‘agree’ or ‘strongly agree’ that they understand the experiences of their patients with Parkinson’s disease better and understand more about how those with Parkinson’s experience time. All but one agreed or strongly agreed that they have a better sense of how society perceives those with Parkinson’s (the one exception was ‘neutral’ on this point) (5.4). The feedback indicated a greater awareness of the psychology of those with Parkinson’s, including ‘an increased awareness of mood and apathy’ and the impact of ‘physical effects on emotional expression’; and found it to have made ‘excellent points on the effect of overcoming…stigma’. The ‘fascinating’ talk on the emotional experience of Parkinson’s will, one said, ‘relate to my patients in clinics’ (5.4). Two-thirds of those that attended the BGS Fringe programme felt that they had a new perspective on aspects of their work, and two-thirds strongly agreed or agreed that they had ‘thought more about how society sees older age’ (5.5).

Working with Healthcare Professionals to Improve Patient Care

Through long-term collaborations, Barry has worked closely with a number of healthcare professionals, including those involved in teaching, to deepen their understanding of patients’ subjective experiences of mental health, ageing and cognitive decline.

Professor Femi Oyebode, Consultant Psychiatrist and Professor of Psychiatry, has attended events run by Barry and has a continuing interest in her work. He attended Barry’s workshop on Empathy and Affect in Medical and Theatrical Practice (2017) focussing on patients with facial paralysis. Prof Oyebode said that the workshop’s insights on how people respond to people with this kind of paralysis ‘influences how we monitor our own responses to depressed patients, for example, and how we must ensure that we avoid the natural distancing that this natural response might cause’. Prof Oyebode also commented on how Barry’s teaching on her ‘The Medical Mind’ module influenced his practice with regard to the use of language, in particular how Sarah Kane’s Psychosis 4:48 ‘forces medical practitioners to confront how they may be perceived by patients and how their language use may itself be a source of disquiet for the patient. These insights have been immensely valuable for my clinical work’ (5.6).

Clinical psychologist Professor Inger Hilde Nordhus, a research partner in Historicizing the Ageing Self, stated that ‘in close collaboration with Elizabeth Barry, new perspectives on my own work – as a clinical researcher and supervisor have been developed. We share, in particular a devoted conversation on dementia and personhood as well as on loneliness and solitude in old age. From these conversations, I can bring new views on these issues to my students, graduate candidates and postdocs. Eventually they bring these perspectives into their own clinically relevant work’ (5.7).

Dr Joanne Preston, Consultant and Care Group Lead for Senior Health at St George’s University Hospitals, attended and spoke at the ‘Living a Good Life in Older Age’ symposium in July 2018. Subsequent collaborations with Barry have influenced the way Preston has approached her own practice. Preston described the symposium as ‘nourishing and refreshing’, and that ‘unlike the psychology and social science explanations of ageing I had learned about in my masters, it felt more tangible to the experience of working with older adults day to day’. Following the BGS Fringe, which Dr Preston attended, she felt that ‘it allowed people the space to explore and think in and amongst the usual scientific talks. Geriatrics in particular needs this as a balance to the “learning facts and keeping up to date” side of the job, because it is a particularly holistic specialty aiming to support people to live life as independently as possible, in line with the goals for their lives’ (5.8).

Academic Psychiatrist Professor Matthew Broome has also collaborated with Barry to examine how literature can relate to clinical practice. Barry’s ideas about modernist literature, and Beckett in particular, have developed Broome’s clinical practice: ‘Frequently, medical students and doctors have a conception of illness that is time-limited, where treatment is successful, and where full recovery occurs. Having these assumptions challenged, and being able to reflect upon them, has developed me as a clinician, researcher and teacher and I hope similarly improved the undergraduate, postgraduate and professional training I deliver. It is the ambiguities of clinical practice where clinicians feel most stressed and where burnout may occur: I believe the approach you have taken in your work may help alleviate this and hence support the clinical workforce and, in turn, our patients’ (5.9).

Purcell and Rutter have helped shape myriad performances of Shakespeare from their conception, rehearsal, and production through to their reception and comprehension. These projects have established new audiences and presented longstanding ones with new adaptations. They incorporate research-based approaches into production, working with theatre practitioners and institutions and through the development of educational resources. As practitioners and consultants, their work, as detailed below, impacts in rehearsal rooms, city-spaces, multiple stages, documentary, digital platforms and social media, school classrooms and sitting rooms.

Bringing Performances to New Audiences

As an Artistic Director of the Pantaloons Theatre Company, Purcell has used his research into Shakespeare and popular performance styles to incorporate clowning, audience participation, and game-based structure into open-air performances, employing the techniques outlined in 3.1 and 3.2. Between 2014 and 2020, The Pantaloons performed 7 different Shakespearean plays in 236 venues from Cornwall to Scotland, including non-traditional and community spaces such as schools, village halls and churches. They reached audiences for whom classical theatre is minimally available, supported by initiatives such as a ticket scheme that allowed 78 teenagers to watch the production of Macbeth for free in Norfolk (repeated for Romeo and Juliet).

Purcell’s interactive techniques generate enthusiastic feedback and transform cultural sensibilities. Spectators refer to ‘brilliant audience participation’ and ‘great audience involvement’. Significant engagement is evidenced from young people and spectators who had previously found Shakespeare inaccessible: ‘I adore Shakespeare, [but] my husband doesn’t always understand it so this was a true “bridge” performance deftly combining audience participation, immersion, contemporary & old’. Another described it ‘lovely’ to see the children in her party ‘laughing so much at such a great performance’, evidence ‘that children can love Shakespeare’. Teachers reported highly positive reactions from their students: one described how the performance of As You Like It ‘made us laugh and appreciate Shakespeare’ (5.1).

Venues have also benefitted economically from Pantaloons performances; profits are split between venue and company , who employ a touring cast. One venue, Godinton House in Kent, claimed ‘the uniqueness of your performance will enable us to unlock new audiences and allow people to enjoy the very essence of Shakespeare’ (5.1). The Pantaloons’ 2020 open-air performance of Twelfth Night (touring 24 venues) was particularly beneficial during Covid-19 disruption, in helping keep afloat venues that normally rely on indoor performances for their income.

Rutter’s research has informed prestigious productions in unconventional sites. A celebrated high-profile 2016 production of The Merchant of Venice in the Venetian Ghetto (the first Jewish Ghetto) marked the 400^th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death and the Ghetto’s 500^th anniversary. A European Commission-funded project, this was the first-ever performance of the play there. In addition to advising the Director, Rutter delivered 2 public talks on the play, and organised and participated in a roundtable discussion described as ‘a most productive and energetic discussion for a lively crowd’ (5.2). The production’s use of an open-air public venue and live streaming enabled them to reach an audience of over 120,000 (119,000 via Facebook Live), many more than would attend a traditional performance venue (5.3). It toured to a prestigious festival in northern Italy, various locations in the USA and was performed in a prison in Padua. The performance also featured in 4 international television and radio documentaries aired in Italy, Germany and the UK (5.3).

Fostering New ways of Performing Shakespeare

With The Pantaloons, Purcell has developed innovative performance techniques and exercises, detailed in 3.1. He has led over 30 professional actors in these practices in rehearsals and open workshops between 2015 and 2016, which led to The Pantaloons’ development of a new improvisation-based Shakespeare show, Play On! Pantaloons alumni have incorporated Purcell’s techniques of audience interaction and games into theatre companies that they have founded, including: Open Bar, Living Record Productions and Mangled Yarn Theatre Company. The co-founder of Mangled Yarn Theatre Company notes that Purcell’s work with him ‘helped shape my identity as a comedian and improviser’. For the Artistic Director of Living Record Productions, working with Purcell ‘changed everything’, reversing his earlier sense that, as a dyslexic person, Shakespeare was ‘never going to be for me’. Having never read a Shakespeare play prior to working with Purcell, he has since directed many of them (5.4).

Rutter’s consultancy work is equally lauded for altering and shaping professional practice, exemplified by the Director of The Merchant of Venice’s comments that she particularly valued Rutter’s unique ability to connect scholars and practitioners, appreciating her ‘energetic leadership over the diverse gathering of scholars and her unequalled authority on matters of Shakespeare text and performance’ (5.2).

Working with National Institutions

Through collaborations with organisations such as Shakespeare’s Globe and Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) Purcell and Rutter have also influenced Shakespearean performance on a national level. One Theatre Director, who has directed 4 productions at Shakespeare’s Globe since 2018, adapted Purcell’s ideas into her own rehearsal-room work, referring to Purcell’s book (3.2) ‘again and again’. The book ‘greatly informed’ her approach to audience interaction, shifting her understanding ‘from simple direct address to the scope for highly personal connections with members of the audience’ (5.5).

Purcell led a public workshop at the Globe in August 2019, exploring the concept of drama as a form of play. With 4 Pantaloons actors and a public audience, he workshopped scenes focusing especially on audience interaction. One audience member was surprised by ‘the overwhelming approval of the audience for more inclusivity/engagement’. This spectator, evidently a professional theatre director, subsequently planned to ‘encourage more audience interaction before a play is officially open. Rather than only having an audience for previews, include them earlier in the process’ (5.1). Another practitioner was ‘surprised by how much I loved the audience interaction/engagement’, having been previously encouraged to maintain the imaginary ‘fourth wall’; they felt the workshop ‘showed me another avenue I can explore in my own art as an actor and director’ (5.1).

In parallel, Rutter has used her textual and historical expertise on performances to inform a number of prestigious productions as a rehearsal consultant for director Phillip Breen’s productions of Shakespeare and other early modern writers. Since 2014, productions consulted on include The Shoemaker’s Holiday, RSC, 2014-15; Shakespeare In Love, Theatre Royal Bath and national tour, 2018; The Provoked Wife, RSC, 2019; and The Comedy of Errors, RSC (scheduled for Summer 2020 but C-19 postponed). Rutter’s expert guidance has supported Breen to maintain the level of authenticity expected by audiences, securing box office receipts well into seven figures. Breen described her contribution as ‘indispensable…giving our creative team the necessary rigour that is required to produce top quality professional Shakespeare productions that fill one-thousand-seat theatres for long runs.’ He adds that Rutter’s ‘in-depth knowledge of the classical canon… [and] the state of the Shakespearean art as a critic and recorder of contemporary practice’ has informed ‘choices at key points of the creative process’ (5.6).

Rutter’s application of research to practice has also provided actors with a deeper understanding of the text that they are able to apply to their craft. A Shakespearean actor described the value of Rutter’s expertise in rehearsals for the RSC’s production of The Comedy of Errors: ‘Carol will be there in the room, with a gentle guiding hand or suggestion where you might struggle with a particularly opaque piece of dialogue… I’d very strongly argue that it’s the input that Carol offers that can lift the mere everyday to the absolutely virtuosic. She’s brilliant, her practice is brilliant, and we need her’ (5.7).

Informing Educational Resources

Based on his extensive research of performance at Shakespeare’s Globe (3.2), Purcell provided expertise for the creation of Shakespeare’s Globe Archive: Theatres, Players and Performance, a resource from Adam Matthew Digital, a digital publisher who curates and contextualises primary sources for use in Higher Education teaching. This resource, published in March 2019, enables students to use carefully curated primary sources that would have been otherwise inaccessible. A member of the Editorial Board, Purcell contributed an accompanying essay and provided crucial counsel on primary sources and development. The publisher notes the advice as ‘a great help in identifying key elements of the collection that would offer an important context to the main performance materials’ (5.8).

As an academic consultant, Rutter collaborated with Shanty Productions in 2018 to adapt Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night for a full text film to appeal to a modern, diverse and younger audience, particularly students. The film is available on iTunes and Amazon Prime Video, and has been downloaded 4,891 times. One reviewer commented that the film is a ‘great way of engaging a more diverse and contemporary audience whilst holding true to Shakespeare’ (5.9). Additionally, Rutter has appeared in 25 educational ‘viewtorials’, aimed particularly at A-Level students. As of 24.11.20, these have been viewed on YouTube 18,489 times (5.9). A 30-second Facebook clip of Rutter discussing the ending received approximately 13,000 views. Typical comments echo the teacher on Twitter who described the videos as ‘fantastic’ and encouraged her Sixth Form students to watch them (5.9).

Rutter has also provided expert insights in Digital Theatre+ (DT+), including interviews, an introduction to Shakespeare and a detailed interview with actor Harriet Walter analysing Shakespeare’s parts for women. DT+ is a subscription service for theatre productions and educational resources used by over 2,000 educational institutions worldwide. The DT+ Editorial Director for Higher Education described Rutter’s contributions as ‘a fruitful bridge between scholarship and practice, deepening and enriching the performance and understanding of Shakespeare’ (5.8). Between 2018 and June 2020 Rutter’s audio-video materials alone have been viewed approximately 1,900 times, likely including classes of students as a single view. DT+ anticipates a growing audience following a website rebuild and teaching moving online due to COVID-19. Rutter’s contributions to the DT+ advisory board have been ‘crucial in bringing together the worlds of industry and education, and, again, creating a genuine and lasting dialogue between often divided communities’ (5.8).

Finally, Rutter has worked closely as an academic mentor and advisor for WillShake (2015), a television series for younger audiences produced by Emily Blacksell with the aim of ‘amplifying the voices of under-represented groups’. Blacksell described how ‘Professor Rutter’s peerless breadth of reference, good humour and supportive gaze is, and will continue to be, key to the success of the project.’ In particular, Blacksell identifies Rutter’s ‘vast knowledge and frame of reference for Shakespeare in performance, coupled with her significant and crucial understanding of the political prisms through which new versions are viewed’ as helpful in adapting Shakespeare for modern, diverse audiences (5.8).

Through sustained collaboration with theatre and education practitioners, both Purcell and Rutter have used their research and collaborative teaching experience to produce and enrich new techniques, performances and teaching resources, providing an innovative, interactive and inclusive approach to Shakespeare for a broad range of audiences around the world.

‘The works of Shakespeare in their diverse points of view can help us build a bridge over the rift of a divided Britain. Shakespeare, Race and Performance: The Diverse Bard has built the framework with which to start this process. ’ Timo Uotinen , Multicultural Shakespeare, Vol. 15: Issue 1 (Sep 2017)

Through touring exhibitions, public events, and the creation of the first online database archiving BAME performances of Shakespeare, this project has celebrated British Black and Asian history, stimulated national debate about diversity in the arts and called for greater flexibility in casting practices. Howard established close links with practitioners, campaigners and cultural organisations, and the industry response to the database demonstrates the relevance of this research for theatre today. The Black British and Asian Shakespeare Performance Database received 121,210 page views between January 2016 and July 2020, while videos available online based on the team’s research had received 115,636 views collectively across social media platforms as of September 2020 (5.1). The RSC actor and film producer Rakie Ayola testifies that this project has ‘enabled theatre producers to examine and address the positive and negative patterns of casting within classical theatre over the decades. It has also enabled Black and Asian actors to feel confident that they are not “the exception”, but part of a longstanding tradition. They can be assured through Warwick University’s Shakespeare Project that their contribution and legacy will be acknowledged, recorded and respected’ (5.2).

Highlighting the importance of the contribution of ethnic minorities to British Theatre

'To Tell My Story: British Black and Asian Shakespeare' was an exhibition curated by Howard showcasing the history of actors of colour in Britain. By showcasing multicultural casting of Shakespeare it provided a platform for current calls for diversity and colour-blind casting. Between August 2013 and 2016 it toured nationally to approximately 30 theatres, libraries, schools, museums and cultural centres, and accompanied productions of Macbeth (Tara Arts: UK tour) and King Lear (Shakespeare’s Globe: tour to St Lucia). Several exhibition visitors commented that they had been previously unaware ‘of the struggles other races found performing Shakespeare’ (5.3). New panels were continually added in response to spectator interest and feedback. Consequently, the British Library asked Howard to work on the Black Performance section of its major exhibition, ‘Shakespeare in Ten Acts’ (2016), and to contribute a chapter to the accompanying book (3.4). One review called Howard’s work ‘dynamic’: Shakespeare ‘becomes a touchstone by which to record and examine the evolution of society’ (5.4).

Howard's research revealed that in Coventry in the early nineteenth century Ira Aldridge, previously recognised only for his acting career, became the first known person of colour to manage a British theatre (see 3.4). In November 2016, in partnership with Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre, Howard produced ‘Against Prejudice’, a drama based on original documents exploring the significance of this discovery. Participants included the RSC’s Ray Fearon and the Belgrade's Black Youth Theatre. Their performance was followed by a procession to the site of Aldridge’s playhouse. 130 people attended the sold-out event, and attendees commented on the importance of telling Aldridge's story: ‘As a black actor, this is MY story, why did I never hear it before?’ and ‘Why wasn't I taught this at school? But look at these kids: they won't forget’ (5.3). In 2017 Shakespeare’s Globe invited ‘Against Prejudice’ to its Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, where audience feedback showed that even those who knew of Aldridge learnt more about his life and legacy. One Black Youth Theatre performer reflected, ‘As a young person, [Aldridge] achieved so much. It gives me hope that we can also make a difference when we have passion and commitment’ (5.3).

‘Against Prejudice’ inspired a successful campaign for a blue plaque for Aldridge, which the Lord Mayor of Coventry and the centenarian actor Earl Cameron (pupil of Aldridge's daughter, Amanda) unveiled in August 2017. This generated extensive international media interest. Writer and actor Lolita Chakrabarti said that the plaque would ‘inspire Black actors …Today, Black and Asian actors are often marginalised, but a blue plaque to commemorate Aldridge's achievements will convey the message, “I'm not alone in carving out my journey and with effort and talent, I can achieve my goals”’ (5.4). Attendees commented that they learned more about Coventry's role in the abolition of the slave trade and the diversity of the city, past and present (5.5). These events formed part of Coventry's successful bid to be UK City of Culture 2021 and have shaped plans for the Belgrade Theatre’s forthcoming programme: ‘It felt fitting to honour Aldridge’s legacy by ensuring that we continue to amplify marginalised voices’ (Belgrade Theatre Artistic Director, 5.5). Following discussions with the City of Culture team, the BBC scheduled a forthcoming celebration of Aldridge’s work in Coventry, including a ‘Horrible Histories’ episode for children, while the Coventry North MP said in Parliament (October 2020): ‘I want everyone to know about Ira...Black History is British History’ (5.5).

Sharing expertise

Howard has been invited to give talks, interviews and speak on expert panels by high profile and prestigious organisations such as the British Council, Victoria and Albert Museum, The BBC, The Drum (Birmingham), HOME (Manchester) and Harlem Film Festival (New York), along with local community organisations in London, Birmingham, Bath and Bristol. These events have consistently challenged the stereotype that, as one participant put it, ‘we just couldn't or shouldn't do Shakespeare, because our skin was the wrong colour’ (5.3).

Howard’s work has been central to debates about diversifying casting procedures in relation to Shakespeare, both by highlighting the mixed history of Black and Asian theatre makers and by raising public awareness of the lack of ethnic representation in the contemporary theatre industry. In 2014 Howard organised a Multicultural Shakespeare Day of Debates at the V&A, attended by many leading figures in the profession. This became a forum where Black and Asian artists expressed frustration at working conditions within classical theatre institutions, exemplified by the comment: ‘I’ve had great opportunities, but I feel as though I’m constantly needing to qualify for the next job’ (5.3).

Within two years of these debates, major arts bodies presented Shakespeare's greatest tragedies - King Lear (BBCTV/ Manchester Exchange); Hamlet (RSC/ also broadcast by the BBC); Macbeth (Shakespeare’s Globe) - with Black British performers in the title roles. In each case the leading actors had worked closely with Multicultural Shakespeare, as had the directors of King Lear and Macbeth. According to the Director of Globe Education, Howard's collaborations with Shakespeare's Globe ‘laid the foundations for the Shakespeare and Race Festivals’ staged by the theatre since 2018; his work ‘raised questions about inclusivity and equity before the Black Lives Matter movement pushed mainstream theatres into taking part in the debate’ (5.6).

In 2017 Howard was asked to be the consultant for Russell Brand’s stage show ‘My Life by William Shakespeare’ and the guest in ‘Shakespeare and Power!’, an episode of Brand’s Under the Skin podcast. In addition to being available on podcast platforms such as Spotify and Apple Podcasts, as of 29.09.20 the episode had received 40,551 views on YouTube, and approximately 25,000 views of a shorter clip on Facebook discussing Shakespeare’s relevance for contemporary society (5.1). Feedback included such comments as ‘I've been teaching working class young people in FE Shakespeare for over 25 years, and this will help me move some of the arguments against (“He's irrelevant! He's boring! I can't understand him!")’ (5.1). Howard's research has connected with many who might feel excluded from the Shakespearean tradition and has provided an intersectional platform to address issues of identity, race and nationality. The Stranger’s Case was a 10-minute film of Shakespeare’s condemnation of anti-immigrant prejudice in the play Sir Thomas More, a modern adaptation starring a British Asian actor. It was directed by Peter Trifunovic after he heard the podcast, and co-produced by Howard. Trifunovic described Howard’s support as ‘instrumental in getting the film made.’ It was launched online for World Refugee Day and won a Best Short Film award at the Leeds International Film Festival (2019), and was longlisted at the BAFTAs (5.7).

The British Black and Asian Shakespeare Performance Database

The BBAS database documents, for the first time, the work of Black and Asian Shakespearean performers and directors since 1930, and tracks casting trends over this period. On average it had 1,156 users per month between 1 January 2016 and 31 July 2020, with 56% based in the UK and 18% in the USA. 83% of users found the site through a search engine (5.1).

A launch event was held in January 2016 at the Tricycle Theatre, London. This included a reading of In Robeson's Footsteps (dramatised extracts from the reminiscences of BAME performers who contributed to Howard's research) and considered the achievements of Robeson’s successors. Audience comments stress both the significance of the database and the importance of commemoration. For example: ‘We always think we're starting again, we always think that the actor we saw playing Hamlet is the first black actor that ever played it…We’ve sort of forgotten…So we need to keep saying, “You're not the first, celebrate the tradition that you're a part of”’ (5.3).

The database launch received widespread national press coverage (including the Evening Standard (print readership: 1,640,000, circulation: 898,407), Independent (circulation: 55,193), The Stage Online, The Guardian (print readership: 865,000, circulation: 164,163), Broadway World, Eurasia Review) praising it for highlighting the inadequate opportunities for Black and Asian actors in Shakespeare, particularly in lead roles. Broadway World quoted the actor Noma Dumezweni’s description of it as a resource that can inform and inspire the practice of actors of colour: ‘To see those who look like me reminds me where we've been, what more we can do, and how much further we can go’ (5.4).

In response to the project's findings Rogers has worked with major arts organisations campaigning for increased diversity, including Equity, the Performers’ Alliance Parliamentary Group, Act for Change (as a Committee Member), and the Diversity School (Advisory Board, working for diversity within actor training). The BBAS database continues to be a point of reference, e.g. in publications such as Digital Theatre (2019) and a Guardian article (2017, print readership: 898,000, circulation: 156,756) discussing the stereotyping of Asian women in drama (5.4). The American Shakespeare Center cited Rogers’ research in relation to the lack of BAME representation in US theatre; the Australian website Shakespeare TwentyScore praised the database for ‘doing terrific ongoing work to demonstrate that Shakespeare is not and has never been owned solely by white men’ (5.4).

Howard and his team have widely shared and spotlit the historical and contemporary achievements of Shakespearean actors of colour. BAME artists have benefitted from the demonstration of the long history of their presence within the classical tradition. The theatre industry has been challenged to recognise the problem with Black and Asian actors’ exclusion from leading roles, and to realise the possibilities of increased diversity. Ultimately, the wider public is now benefitting from productions that offer a more accurate reflection of the composition of today’s society, correcting a situation where ‘a large segment of 21st-century Britain's population feels excluded from going to the theatre…because the people on the stage in no way resemble them’ ( The Times, 5.4).

Prescott’s work is driven by the conviction that in order to maximise the social and environmental impact of Shakespeare we have to create new and more diverse Shakespearean environments. His ground-breaking work in Yosemite National Park builds on his earlier experience making and taking Shakespeare into unique locations, reaching new audiences, building archives and expanding the reach, legacy and transformative capacities of Shakespearean theatre, particularly in the US. Across the trajectory of this work, detailed below, he has also informed the work of professional theatre practitioners and facilitated meaningful cross-national collaborations between theatrical and professional cultural and environmental organisations, focusing on engaging issues and promoting action for change.

Shakespeare on the Road (SOTR)

Prescott led the SOTR project, a collaboration between the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust (SBT), Misfit-Inc, the Shakespeare Theatre Association, and 14 Shakespeare festivals across the US. The project website catalogued and disseminated the discoveries, including an archive of 50 hours of interviews with over 100 Shakespearean theatre practitioners. Prescott presented original research on Shakespeare festivals to a combined audience of approximately 10,000 festival-goers (5.1) throughout the project and attracted widespread media coverage in publications across the US (5.2). The project was selected as the only Shakespeare-related event in the UK's first ever Being Human Festival of the Humanities (November 2014), and formed the basis of a photographic exhibition at Harvard House, Stratford-upon-Avon (Nov 2014–Feb 2015). A two-hour radio documentary, ‘Shakespeare on the Road with Maxine Peake’, told the story of the project through first-hand accounts and practitioner interviews. It was co-authored and presented by Prescott, and aired on Classic FM on July 4^th 2016 (5.2).

The project brought immediate and long-lasting cultural, pedagogic and economic benefits to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust (SBT). According to the then CEO of SBT, SOTR enabled them to ‘grow our presence in the US, something that is critical to our long-term fundraising and international profile’ (5.1). The SOTR team, under direction by Prescott, shared SBT’s work at each festival location, which was particularly valuable to SBT because ‘most Americans have never heard of the SBT but these events enabled us to explain our mission and unique responsibilities to a combined in-person audience of c.10,000 people’ (5.1). SOTR had ‘tangible impacts on the way the SBT engages with the public’: SBT adopted the Nashville Shakespeare Festival’s model of regular public readings of Shakespeare plays, which has ‘led to a highly successful and ongoing series’ (5.1). Furthermore, through a connection with the New Orleans Shakespeare Festival emerging from SOTR, SBT invited musicians to perform a jazz funeral, ‘one of the highlights’ (5.1) of a series of events marking the 400^th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death.

As a result of SOTR, the SBT has formed an ongoing collaboration with Debra Ann Byrd, founding artistic director of the Harlem Shakespeare Festival (HSF), which was formed in 2013 with a social justice mission. Byrd has been an Artist-in-Residence in Stratford 3 times, and premiered ‘Becoming Othello: A Black Girl’s Journey’ in Stratford and Warwick in October 2019. Her show was inspired by research made available in the SBT archives. As quoted in the Stratford Herald, Byrd ‘saw her performance as a way of bringing Harlem to Henley Street, as […] Paul Edmondson and Paul Prescott had brought Henley Street to Harlem in their epic journey around North American Shakespeare festivals in 2014’ (5.4). For the SBT, ‘this collaboration has done much to increase [their] profile as an institution invested in inclusion and diverse responses to Shakespeare’ (5.1). Byrd also remarks that Prescott’s SOTR helped HSF to raise its profile, enabling its mission to ‘foster understanding and unity’ and ‘giving opportunities to women, young people and classically trained actors of colour’, and in so doing raise ‘the public’s awareness of often untold stories of African-American’s creative engagements with Shakespeare’ (5.3).

During the project, SOTR collected 100 hours of audio recordings that are now held in the SBT archive. Their CEO described how these now ‘comprise an unprecedented oral history archive about the status of Shakespeare in America in the early twenty-first century… they have been regularly consulted by student researchers and others’ (5.1). An additional vital component of the research was the construction of a database listing all extant festivals in the US; this was the first database of its kind and has been of great benefit to the Shakespeare Theatre Association (STA), the umbrella association for over 100 Shakespearean theatre companies and festivals in North America. The STA’s Executive Director attests that the project ‘shone a light on then-young companies like the Harlem Shakespeare Festival, raising the profile of those festivals in the wider theatrical community.’ He added that the database ‘has given us a better understanding of performances of Shakespeare in North America…Most significantly, Shakespeare on the Road has had an impact on the profile of our organisation and has helped us to recruit new members. Having the unpublished database of all extant US festivals and companies has enabled us to identify, contact and recruit companies to our membership’ (5.5).

Shakespeare in Yosemite (SY)

Drawing on research into the history and function of North American festivals, and his experience in SOTR, Prescott co-founded a new annual Shakespeare festival in Yosemite National Park, California, in collaboration with Katherine Brokaw (UCLA, Merced) and the National Park Service. To date, ‘Shakespeare in Yosemite’ is the only Shakespeare festival to take place in a US National Park. The inaugural production in 2017 explored Shakespeare's influence on the writings of pioneering environmentalist and ‘Father of the National Parks’ John Muir, drawing on Prescott’s research into Muir's archive at the University of the Pacific, California. Over 700 park visitors attended the free event, which was featured in media publications including Yahoo! and Broadway World LA (5.6). The 2018 festival featured an eco-themed production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, reaching 1,000 in person attendees. It was featured in the LA Times (print readership: 1,200,000) and on NPR member stations CapRadio and Valley Public Radio, which cover Bakersfield, Fresno, Sacramento, Tahoe, Reno, Stockton, Modesto and Quincy (5.6). The adapted text produced by Prescott had site-specific references including words drawn from Native American languages (with the blessing of representatives of the South Sierra Miwok and Paiute peoples) and introduced a plot strand relating to the World Earth Day 2018 theme to 'End Plastic Pollution'. Feedback demonstrated audiences became more aware of the problems of plastic and waste: ‘plastic water bottles are a no no’; ‘it made me more open minded of all the litter and trash scattered across the park’; ‘reminded me to pick up trash in park w[hen] I see it’ (5.7).

The 2019 production of As You Like It also foregrounded environmental themes, including species extinction and animal welfare, tracking that year’s World Earth Day theme, ‘Save our Species’. It played to diverse audiences, including 100 secondary school students bussed in from under-served communities in the Central Valley (5.8); for many of them, this was a transformative first exposure to both a National Park and live theatre. Performances will resume in 2021 with a production of Cymbeline filmed in Merced and Yosemite.

Yosemite National Park attests the performances have created ‘an educational opportunity to connect the works of Shakespeare with ecological and historical issues relevant to Yosemite’ (5.8). All 3 productions demonstrated the continued relevance of Shakespeare's texts and their flexible utility for social thinking and activism in the present cultural and environmental moment. The productions have given a platform to Park Rangers and climate scientists from UC-Merced to disseminate research on anthropogenic global warming, amidst controversial reports of a policy of tempered mediation of such knowledge by the Trump administration.

More generally, the Festival has revived outdoor theatre in Yosemite Valley, dormant since the 1960s, reinvigorating spaces such as the Lower River and Curry River Amphitheatres. A statement from Yosemite National Park repeatedly emphasises that SY has helped achieve core Park objectives by introducing many new visitors to the site, many from ‘underserved’ and ‘disproportionately disadvantaged’ communities who have never visited Yosemite or a national park before, nor experienced outdoor theatre (5.8). One visitor commented that they had been ‘unaware that Yosemite had two outdoor amphitheaters. I hope that they will be used more often in the future.’ Another noted that although they have ‘lived and worked in Yosemite’ they ‘don’t often find myself in the HDV [Half Dome Village, now called Curry Village] amphitheater, and I found it be a wonderful location to both watch the play and enjoy the view’ (5.7). A number of visitors indicated that the performance was the reason for their visit to the park: ‘We actually planned a trip to Yosemite around this. We wouldn’t have come otherwise… and it was completely worth it’ (5.7).

Between 2017 and 2019, the total audience for these productions was over 2,500 (5.8) and comments from the audience demonstrated its unique blend of entertainment and environmental education. A Yosemite regular wrote: ‘We have been coming to Yosemite four times a year our whole lives, and we have never seen anything like this…We learned so much about Shakespeare and Muir!’ (5.7). Audience surveys clearly show that for many people, SY changed the way they saw both Shakespeare and Yosemite:

• My first time here and now I’m inspired to get more involved in the environment. One world and we need to look after it.

• Made me realize how beautiful Yosemite is and how great it is to have words to describe it.

• I had seen a Midsummer’s Night Dream before and hadn’t liked it. This play completely changed my view point. It made my trip to Yosemite that much better.

• Loved how you made Shakespeare entertaining and funny, it was also easy to understand. Even young kids enjoyed it!

• I didn’t see any connections between Shakespeare and the natural world before this performance!

• Made me think about the many forms of love, especially the love of nature. (5.7)

These reinforce Yosemite’s National Park’s statement that SY ‘both revives the tradition of outdoor entertainment and has transformed that entertainment into something that deepens visitors’ engagement and understanding of park resources and ecological issues’ (5.8). The eco-theatrical practices and research findings of SY have generated widespread interest from theatre and policy-makers, leading Prescott and Brokaw to co-found the EarthShakes Alliance in 2020, an international collective of Shakespeare theatres and festivals (including Shakespeare’s Globe) committed to centring environmental issues (5.9). The Alliance will enable the sharing of resources and best practices, building a collaborative momentum for environmental activism. It invites festivals and theatre companies of all sizes to pledge to a set of principles and commitments to change their policy and practices. Delayed by the pandemic, the full project is due to launch in 2021.

Prescott’s work has impacted a range of organisations, audiences, and individuals, both locally and internationally. It has significantly influenced both the performance and reception of Shakespeare, diversifying the ways and spaces in which plays are performed and making them accessible to new audiences. At a crucial turning point in our current climate crisis, Prescott’s work has vitally raised public awareness and understanding of the crisis we are facing and is at the forefront of creating, and galvanising, sustainable and socially active theatre practice across the world.