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John Somers Memorial Event

Please join us at the University of Exeter to honour the work and legacy of the Honorary Professor of Drama Dr. John Somers on Friday 20 September, 5-6.30pm, Thornlea Studios, Exeter and online.

Colleagues around the world know John’s work in applied drama and community theatre – ‘Drama which has a job to do’, as he would say.

John founded the MA in Applied Drama at Exeter, the Exeter Applied Drama Research Conference, and was the founding editor of the journal Research in Drama Education. His first commitment was to Drama in Education, which he embraced when training to be a teacher at Loughborough College and developed in his work at a Birmingham secondary modern. Moving into academia, John’s work diversified into developing applied theatre, working extensively with colleagues internationally, particularly in Finland, Turkey, Greece, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Brazil. Often working with specialists from other professions, he developed interactive theatre programmes on a range of social issues for young people and community audiences. Among the many prestigious awards John received for his work were the National Institute of Mental Health in England (NIMHE) Positive Practice Award and a Special Recognition Award from the American Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) for leadership in community-based theatre and civic engagement.

John was an astonishing colleague – indefatigable for the discipline, for his students, and a remarkable creative force. He inspired and enabled hundreds of colleagues across the world to continue to make live theatre about things that mattered. It is a legacy that will endure through the practices and values of the many people who worked with him.