![Emeritus Professor Joanne Tompkins](/sites/default/files/profiles/116.jpeg)
Overview
Background
Professor Joanne Tompkins is currently seconded to the Australian Research Council as Executive Director of the Humanities and Creative Arts panel, for a period of three years (until 2019).
Her research interests include spatial theories and virtual reality; post-colonial, intercultural, and multicultural drama, literature, and theory; performance theories; and feminist performance.
Her current research includes 3D visualisation and modelling of theatre spaces; the spatial theory of heterotopia; space in Australian and Canadian theatre; database of Australian performance; multicultural theories and drama, and intercultural performance.
She is the author of articles on: Spatial theory and virtual reality; post-colonial, multicultural, and intercultural drama and theory; Australian drama and literature and Canadian drama;
She is author of: Theatre’s Heterotopias: Space and the Analysis of Performance. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014; and Unsettling Space: Contestations in Contemporary Australian Theatre. Basingstoke: Palgrave/Macmillan, 2006.
She is co-author of: A Global Doll's House: Ibsen and Distant Visions. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016 (with Julie Holledge, Frode Helland and Jonathan Bollen); Women's Intercultural Performance, Routledge, 2000 (with Julie Holledge); and Post-colonial Drama: Theory, Practice, Politics, Routledge, 1996 (with Helen Gilbert).
She is editor of: Theatre Journal, "Space and the Geographics of Theatre," a special issue of Modern Drama, 2004; "Theatre and the Canadian Imaginary," a special issue of Australasian Drama Studies, 1996.
She is co-editor of: Performing Site-Specific Theatre: Politics, Place, Practice, Palgrave Macmillan, 2012 (with Anna Birch); Site-Specificity and Mobility, a Special Issue of Contemporary Theatre Review 2012 (with Anna Birch); Performance and Design, a special issue of Australasian Drama Studies (with Andrew Filmer and Miranda Heckenberg) 2012;Modern Drama: Defining the Field, University of Toronto Press, 2003 (with Ric Knowles and WB Worthen); Modern Drama 1999-2005; Performing Women / Performing Feminisms: Interviews with International Women Playwrights (with Julie Holledge).
Availability
- Emeritus Professor Joanne Tompkins is:
- Available for supervision
- Media expert
Qualifications
- Bachelor (Honours) of Arts, University of Toronto
- Masters (Coursework), University of Waterloo
- Doctoral Diploma, Queen Mary University of London
Research interests
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Theatre and Spatiality
I am interested in the creation and manipulation of imaginative space/locations on stage, and the ways in which architecture contributes to imaginative stage space. I am also interested in the relationship between space on stage and space in the cultural context outside a theatre venue. I describe this through the concept of heterotopia, a development of Kevin Hetherington's formulation of Foucault's version of the term.
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Theatre and Virtual Reality
I research the ways in which theatre might engage with virtual reality. I explore this primarily through the redevelopment of historical theatre venues, virtually. These venues are useful to explore architectural structure, how special effects worked, how actors moved and performed on such stages, and how stage properties functioned then.
Research impacts
Professor Tompkins has made a research impact in terms of the development of cultural spaces for theatres, galleries, and museums. Through the Ortelia project (www.ortelia.com), she, in conjunction with two Virtual Reality modellers, has developed tools for managing contemporary cultural venues. There is also the capacity for curating and archiving gallery and museum exhibitions and designing theatre productions. There is also a historical component to the theatre projects: this aspect of Ortelia models early modern theatres from London to investigate how performance was staged then. Ortelia has also developed the capacity to provide the curation of 3D mobile objects for museum exhibitions and for greater investigation by the museum community and by the cultural community from which the objects have emerged.
She is the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate from Queen Mary, University of London (2015).
Works
Search Professor Joanne Tompkins’s works on UQ eSpace
2021
Journal Article
Putting virtual theatre models to work: ‘virtual praxis’ for performance research in theatre history
Bollen, Jonathan, Holledge, Julie and Tompkins, Joanne (2021). Putting virtual theatre models to work: ‘virtual praxis’ for performance research in theatre history. Theatre and Performance Design, 7 (1-2), 6-23. doi: 10.1080/23322551.2021.1925469
2020
Journal Article
Roger Clegg, principal investigator, and Eric Tatham, developer. Reconstructing the Rose: 3D Computer Modelling Philip Henslowe’s Playhouse. Other
Tompkins, Joanne (2020). Roger Clegg, principal investigator, and Eric Tatham, developer. Reconstructing the Rose: 3D Computer Modelling Philip Henslowe’s Playhouse. Other. Renaissance and Reformation, 43 (1), 177-180.
2017
Book Chapter
Teaching spatial theory and theatre ‘site-specifically’
Tompkins, Joanne (2017). Teaching spatial theory and theatre ‘site-specifically’. International Performance Research Pedagogies: Towards an Unconditional Discipline?. (pp. 163-174) edited by Sruti Bala, Milija Gluhovic, Hanna Korsberg and Kati Röttger. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-53943-0_12
2017
Journal Article
Staging supernatural creatures in a computer-based visualisation of London’s sixteenth-century Rose Theatre
Tompkins, Joanne and Kastanis, Lazaros (2017). Staging supernatural creatures in a computer-based visualisation of London’s sixteenth-century Rose Theatre. International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media, 13 (1), 1-17. doi: 10.1080/14794713.2017.1280306
2016
Book
A global doll's house: Ibsen and distant visions
Holledge, Julie, Bollen, Jonathan, Helland, Frode and Tompkins, Joanne (2016). A global doll's house: Ibsen and distant visions. London: Palgrave Macmillan. doi: 10.1057/978-1-137-43899-7
2015
Journal Article
Editorial comment: possible worlds
Tompkins, Joanne (2015). Editorial comment: possible worlds. Theatre Journal, 67 (2), ix-xi. doi: 10.1353/tj.2015.0036
2015
Edited Outputs
Contemporary Theatre Review
Contemporary Theatre Review. (2015). 25 (1)
2015
Journal Article
Editing matters: an editorial
Delgado, Maria M. and Tompkins, Joanne (2015). Editing matters: an editorial. Contemporary Theatre Review, 25 (1), 11-16. doi: 10.1080/10486801.2015.1007759
2014
Book Chapter
Making the invisible visible: virtual stage props and Christopher Marlowe's Dr Faustus
Tompkins, Joanne (2014). Making the invisible visible: virtual stage props and Christopher Marlowe's Dr Faustus. Performing objects and theatrical things. (pp. 161-172) edited by Marlis Schweitzer and Joanne Zerdy. Basingstoke, Hampshire, United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan. doi: 10.1057/9781137402455
2014
Book
Theatre's heterotopias: performance and the cultural politics of space
Tompkins, Joanne (2014). Theatre's heterotopias: performance and the cultural politics of space. Sydney, NSW, Australia: Palgrave Macmillan. doi: 10.1057/9781137362124
2013
Journal Article
Ros Merkin, ed. "Liverpool Playhouse: A Theatre and Its City"
Tompkins, Joanne (2013). Ros Merkin, ed. "Liverpool Playhouse: A Theatre and Its City". Modern Drama, 56 (3), 416-417. doi: 10.1353/mdr.2013.0034
2013
Book Chapter
Noëlle Janaczewska’s twenty-first-century theatre: explorations of Australian cultural constructs and theatrical form
Tompkins, Joanne (2013). Noëlle Janaczewska’s twenty-first-century theatre: explorations of Australian cultural constructs and theatrical form. Catching Australian theatre in the 2000s. (pp. 207-220) edited by Richard Fotheringham and James Smith. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Rodopi.
2013
Journal Article
National Performance: Representing Quebec from Expo 67 to Celine Dion. By Erin Hurley.
Tompkins, Joanne (2013). National Performance: Representing Quebec from Expo 67 to Celine Dion. By Erin Hurley.. Theatre Survey, 54 (1), 141-143. doi: 10.1017/S0040557412000452
2013
Journal Article
Performing ghosts in Australia: Ibsen and an example of Australian cultural translation
Tompkins, Joanne (2013). Performing ghosts in Australia: Ibsen and an example of Australian cultural translation. Ibsen Studies, 13 (1), 2-27. doi: 10.1080/15021866.2013.792663
2012
Journal Article
Theatre's heterotopia and the site-specific production of Suitcase
Tompkins, Joanne (2012). Theatre's heterotopia and the site-specific production of Suitcase. TDR, 56 (2), 101-112. doi: 10.1162/DRAM_a_00169
2012
Edited Outputs
Contemporary Theatre Review
Contemporary Theatre Review. (2012). 22 (2)
2012
Book
Performing site-specific theatre: politics, place, practice
Anna Birch and Joanne Tompkins eds. (2012). Performing site-specific theatre: politics, place, practice. Performance Interventions, Hampshire, U. K.: Palgrave Macmillan.
2012
Book Chapter
The 'Place' and practice of site-specific theatre and performance
Tompkins, Joanne (2012). The 'Place' and practice of site-specific theatre and performance. Performing site-specific theatre: politics, place, practice. (pp. 1-17) edited by Anna Birch and Joanne Tompkins. Houndmills, Basingstoke, United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan. doi: 10.1057/9781137283498
2012
Book Chapter
Reproduction, mediation, and experience : virtual reality, motion capture and early modern theatre
Delbridge, Matthew and Tompkins, Joanne (2012). Reproduction, mediation, and experience : virtual reality, motion capture and early modern theatre. SPACE–EVENT–AGENCY–EXPERIENCE: open access epublication of the DREX Project Centre for Practice as Research in Theatre. (pp. 56-65) Tampere, Finland: University of Tampere.
2011
Journal Article
Site-specific theatre and political engagement across space and time: The psychogeographic mapping of British Petroleum in Platform's And While London Burns
Tompkins, Joanne (2011). Site-specific theatre and political engagement across space and time: The psychogeographic mapping of British Petroleum in Platform's And While London Burns. Theatre Journal, 63 (2), 225-243. doi: 10.1353/tj.2011.0048
Funding
Supervision
Availability
- Emeritus Professor Joanne Tompkins is:
- Available for supervision
Before you email them, read our advice on how to contact a supervisor.
Available projects
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Theatre
Among the topics I could supervise are theatre history, theatre theory, and cultural, national, spatial approaches to theatre. I am particularly interested in Australian and Canadian theatre.
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Digital Humanities and Virtual Reality
I am interested in topics relating to digital humanities and theatre and VR theatre.
Supervision history
Current supervision
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Doctor Philosophy
Gender Equality and the Cycle Play
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Stephen Carleton
Completed supervision
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2018
Doctor Philosophy
Brecht in India: The Poetics and Politics of Transcultural Theatre
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Bernadette Cochrane
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2016
Master Philosophy
"Being With:" Establishing Co-presence Between Multimedia Images and Performers in Multimedia Performance.
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Amelia Barikin
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2014
Doctor Philosophy
Shakespeare's Voice: A Theory of the Voice in Performance
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Emeritus Professor Richard Fotheringham
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2013
Doctor Philosophy
Dramaturgy, Playtext, and Structure
Principal Advisor
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2013
Doctor Philosophy
Really Moving Drama
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Stephen Carleton
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2012
Doctor Philosophy
Re-Imagining Citizenry: National Identities in Canadian and Australian Multicultural Drama
Principal Advisor
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2011
Master Philosophy
Carving Out a Space: Founding Performance Space in the City
Principal Advisor
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2010
Doctor Philosophy
The space and performance of virtual reality
Principal Advisor
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2009
Doctor Philosophy
Theatre audience contribution through the post-performance discussion
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Emeritus Professor Veronica Kelly, Emeritus Professor Richard Fotheringham
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2008
Doctor Philosophy
Staging the North: Finding, Imagining and Performing an Australian Deep North
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Emeritus Professor Veronica Kelly
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2007
Doctor Philosophy
Beyond the Visible: Disability and Performing Bodies
Principal Advisor
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2006
Master Philosophy
RECONCILIATION ON STAGE: THE POLITICS OF INDIGENOUS REPRESENTATION IN BRISBANE THEATRE'S 1999 'RECONCILIATION PLAYS'
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Emeritus Professor Richard Fotheringham
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2004
Master Arts Creative Writing
DEERMEKAAR
Principal Advisor
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2003
Master Arts Creative Writing
Vampires in the Bush (text for performance)
Principal Advisor
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2023
Master Philosophy
Concrete Mirage, An Anthropocene Fever Dream: City Space on Stage in a New Epoch
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Stephen Carleton
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2018
Master Philosophy
The Nature of Engagement of Audiences in Prison Theatre: a case study of the Shakespeare Prison Project
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Rob Pensalfini
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2015
Doctor Philosophy
Posthuman Drama: Identity and the Machine in Twenty-First-Century Playwriting
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Stephen Carleton
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2011
Master Philosophy
Never the Ordinary: Training and Performance in Contemporary Australian Physical Theatre; a Zen Zen Zo Case Study
Associate Advisor
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2008
Doctor Philosophy
Happy Together: The Family in Australian Drama since 1975
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Emeritus Professor Veronica Kelly
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2007
Doctor Philosophy
WHITE VANISHING: A SETTLER AUSTRALIAN HEGEMONIC TEXTUAL STRATEGY, 1789-2006
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Emeritus Professor Alan Lawson
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2005
Master Philosophy
THE KINESTHETICS OF ROCK MUSIC PERFORMANCE: AN EXAMINATION THROUGH PERFORMATIVITY, MASCULINITY, AND NICK CAVE.
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Emeritus Professor Graeme Turner
Media
Enquiries
Contact Emeritus Professor Joanne Tompkins directly for media enquiries about:
- Australian drama
- Australian fiction
- Canadian drama and fiction
- Computer animation of theatre design
- Cultural space as virtual reality
- Drama
- Fiction
- Intercultural theatre
- Multicultural theatre
- Multimedia in theatre
- Post-colonial drama/theatre
- Spatial theory - theatre
- Stage design
- Theatre stage design
- Virtual reality - stage design
- Virtual reality modelling
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