Dr. Warwick Dobson

Dr. Warwick Dobson
Position
Emeritus Professor
Applied Theatre
Contact
Credentials

B Ed University of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, MA University of Lancaster, MA (Ed) and PhD University of Sussex, University Scholar in Applied Theatre

Area of expertise

Applied Theatre: drama/theatre in education, reminiscence theatre

Areas of Research & Creative Activity
Applied Theatre, specializing in the history of applied theatre, devised theatre, theatre- and drama-in-education, youth theatre, reminiscence theatre and the uses of drama and theatre in health education contexts.

Brief Biography

Warwick Dobson is the University Scholar in Applied Theatre. From 2008-14, he was the Chair of the Theatre Department. Before coming to the University of Victoria in 2005, he worked as a school teacher, drama consultant, teacher educator, university professor and theatre director. 

As well as working in Canada, Warwick has worked extensively in the UK, Europe and the United States. From 1996-2004, he was Senior Lecturer in Community Theatre and Performance at the University of Northumbria, and in 2005-6 Visiting Professor at Derby University in the UK. In 2005, he was Visiting Professor at DAMU, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic; Visiting Professor at the Institute of Pedagogy at the Masarykova University of Brno, Czech Republic; and Visiting Professor at the City University of New York (CUNY).

He has written some of the standard works on theatre and drama in schools and a number of articles on Applied Theatre.

Selected Professional & Creative Achievements 

Recent projects:

  • Directing adaptation of Federico Garcia Lorca’s Yerma at the Phoenix Theatre, 2010.

  • Devising and writing No Particular Place to Go, ethno-theatre exploring older driver safety on Vancouver Island, 2009.

  • Devising and directing Wobble, a theatre-in-education programme for elementary schools, 2007.

  • Devising and directing a number of reminiscence theatre projects in Victoria BC, 2006-2008.

  • Devising and directing Alice in Maryland, for Authentic Community Theatre (ACT) in Hagerstown, Maryland, USA, 2006. 

  • Devising and directing a promenade performance of It’s Grimm in Hagerstown for Authentic Community Theatre (ACT) 2005.

  • Devising and directing a number of reminiscence theatre projects with seniors in New York City, 2001-2007.

Selected Recent Publications:

  • Advanced Drama and Theatre Studies (Second Edition), co-authored with Jonothan Neelands (Hodder Education, 2008)

  • “Taking care of basics: A Reminiscence Theatre Project,” co-authored with Tony Goode. Classroom and Community, ed. B. Warren (Captus UP, 2002) 

  • Drama and Theatre Studies at AS/A Level, co-authored with Jonothan Neelands (Hodder and Stoughton, 2000)

  • Theatre Directions, co-authored with Jonothan Neelands (Hodder and Stoughton, 2000) 

  • “Knowing who we are (and that we are not alone),” co-authored with Tony Goode and Alice Boyd. Drama for Life: Stories of Adult Learning and Empowerment, ed. J. O’Toole and M. Lepp (Playlab Press, 2000)

  • ‘Coq au Vin and Chicken Marengo: Classic Recipes and Inspired Creations’, co-authored with Barbara Hill, in The Research of Practice; The Practice of Research, (ed) Juliana Saxton and Carole Miller, (IDEA publications, 1998)

  • Lessons for the Living: Drama and the integrated curriculum, co-authored with Jim Clark, Tony Goode and Jonothan Neelands, (Mayfair Cornerstone, 1997)

  • Currently working on A History of Applied Theatre, and a book-length study of Modernism in European Theatre: From Beaumarchais to Beckett.