Professor David Wiles
Drama
I am a historian of the theatre, which means that I am someone who wants to understand the present, because it is the past that has made us who we are. Teaching and creative practice has always informed my research. I now live in Oxford where I am pursuing community theatre ventures, and participate in academic life as a member of Wolfson College.
My main historical areas of interest have always been the theatres of Greece and Elizabethan England, and more recently the European Enlightenment. Important themes in my work have been performance space, masked acting, festival, and the function of theatre in society. I have resisted limiting myself to a single period in order to take a broader view of how theatre has evolved. My two books on 'citizenship' and on 'rhetorical' stage acting' have led me to my most recent: Democracy, Theatre and Performance. Democracy cannot function without oratory, and oratory is grounded in theatricality. I am currently working on a history of the art of acting, framed around ten biographies.
Biography:
education:
Jesus College, Cambridge, B.A./M.A., 1969-72
University of London, Goldsmiths' College, Cert.Ed., 1973-74
Department of Drama, University of Bristol, Ph.D. 1975-78 (title: 'The servant as master: a study of role definition in Classical and Renaissance popular comedy')
employment in higher education:
temporary lecturer in drama, University of Manchester, 1978-80
lecturer in drama, University College of Wales, Aberystwyth,1981-86
lecturer in drama and theatre studies, University of London,
Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, 1986-93; reader in drama 1993-1998; professor of theatre 1998-2013
maître de conférence invité, Université Paul Valéry, Montpellier, Oct.-Dec.1990
Virginia C.Gildersleeve Visiting Professor, Barnard College, University of Columbia. Sept 2002
Professor of Drama, University of Exeter, August 2013-17
Common room member of Wolfson College Oxford 2018-
Research supervision:
At Royal Holloway, I saw 16 PhD projects through to completion,and many of my students now hold academic posts.
