Overview
Background
Dr Abbie Victoria Trott is a Lecturer in Drama at the University of Queensland, where she also teaches digital media and communication. She is currently working on a book about how theatre for young people makes sense of young people's immersion in digital culture. Her research is broadly interested in examining how audiences make sense of theatre in light of digital culture. Other research interests include the relationships between generative AI, audiences and performers. Teaching theatre and performance at a tertiary level since 2014, she is an experienced stage and production manager across community theatre, circus, and multimedia performance.
Availability
- Dr Abbie Trott is:
- Not available for supervision
Qualifications
- Bachelor (Honours) of Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies, Queensland University of Technology
- Masters (Research) of Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies, The University of Queensland
- Doctor of Philosophy of Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies, University of Melbourne
- Board Member, Australasian Association for Theatre, Drama and Performance Studies, Australasian Association for Theatre, Drama and Performance Studies
- Member, International Federation of Theatre Research, International Federation of Theatre Research
Research interests
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Young people, theatre and digital culture
This research investigates how young people's engagement with digital culture translates to their experience of theatre.
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Generative AI, performers and audiences
This research in investigating how AI chatbots are embodied as actants in new medial performance through their relationships with performers and audiences.
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Audience diversity
This research is interested if how to collect and represent data about audience diversity.
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Action research and participatory enquiry
This research is interested in using multimodal, participatory enquiry in theatre and performance.
Research impacts
Abbie's research into how young theatre audiences make sense of their immersion in digital culture offers strategies as we grapple as a society with digital saturation. Her research into the relationship between generative AI, audiences and performers offers different perspectives on generative AI.
Using a multimodal approach, Abbie's research methodology is iterative, reflective and engages with the nuances of digital culture and performance.
Works
Search Professor Abbie Trott’s works on UQ eSpace
2026
Other Outputs
Creative Brain Week: art and human flourishing in an age of AI
Cole, Emma, Trott, Abbie, Brimblecombe-Fox, Kathryn and Wilson-Barnao, Caroline (2026). Creative Brain Week: art and human flourishing in an age of AI. Queensland Gallery of Modern Art.
2026
Journal Article
Experiential spectatorship: immersion, participation, and play during times of deep mediatization : by William W. Lewis, Oxon: Routledge, 2025, 267 pp., £108.00 (hardback), £34.39 (ebook), ISBN: 978-1-032-50289-2
Trott, Abbie Victoria (2026). Experiential spectatorship: immersion, participation, and play during times of deep mediatization : by William W. Lewis, Oxon: Routledge, 2025, 267 pp., £108.00 (hardback), £34.39 (ebook), ISBN: 978-1-032-50289-2. International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media, 22 (1), 196-197. doi: 10.1080/14794713.2026.2656507
2026
Journal Article
Centring the audience: attitudes and behaviours in Australian arts organisations
Johanson, Katya, Trott, Abbie, Taylor, Mark, Kershaw, Anne, Glow, Hilary and Margieson, Tracy (2026). Centring the audience: attitudes and behaviours in Australian arts organisations. International Journal of Cultural Policy, 32 (3), 393-412. doi: 10.1080/10286632.2025.2458571
2025
Journal Article
10th year of action research seminar for doctoral students
Ogawa, Akihiro, Mikami, Akina and Trott, Abbie Victoria (2025). 10th year of action research seminar for doctoral students. Action Learning and Action Research Journal, 31 (1) 1, 9-27.
2025
Journal Article
“Listen in the cracks:” a conversation with Professor, and action researcher, Marie Brennan
Mikami, Akina and Trott, Abbie (2025). “Listen in the cracks:” a conversation with Professor, and action researcher, Marie Brennan. Action Learning and Action Research Journal, 31 (1), 156-179.
2025
Conference Publication
Pigeon Fool’s Turing test: the relationship between the audience, the live AI bot, and the recorded human performer
Trott, Abbie Victoria (2025). Pigeon Fool’s Turing test: the relationship between the audience, the live AI bot, and the recorded human performer. International Federation of Theatre Research, Cologne, Germany, 9 - 13 May 2025.
2025
Conference Publication
“@Aunty_Irene: colonisation, cultural responsibility, and an AI Bot in Eat Slay Zombie
Trott, Abbie Victoria (2025). “@Aunty_Irene: colonisation, cultural responsibility, and an AI Bot in Eat Slay Zombie. Australasian Association of Theatre Drama and Performance Studies, Wellington, New Zealand, 1-5 December 2025.
2024
Journal Article
Review of Deserted devices and wasted fences: everyday technologies in extreme circumstances, by Dani Ploeger
Trott, Abbie (2024). Review of Deserted devices and wasted fences: everyday technologies in extreme circumstances, by Dani Ploeger. International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media, 20 (2), 1-2. doi: 10.1080/14794713.2024.2391202
2024
Other Outputs
Changing organisations to diversify arts audiences: summary of findings from community of practice
Kershaw, Anne, Glow, Hilary, Johanson, Katya, Trott, Abbie, Margieson, Tracy and Enoch, Wesley (2024). Changing organisations to diversify arts audiences: summary of findings from community of practice. Melbourne, VIC, Australia: Deakin Univeristy.
2024
Conference Publication
Pigeon fool: hybrid assemblages and the relationship between the live AI bot and the recorded human performer
Trott, Abbie Victoria (2024). Pigeon fool: hybrid assemblages and the relationship between the live AI bot and the recorded human performer. Artificial Visionaries: Exploring the Intersections of Machine Vision, Computation, and our Aural and Visual Cultures Symposium, Brisbane, QLD, Australia, 27 - 28 November 2024.
2024
Conference Publication
Intermediality and community circus: Vulcana Circus and disrupting tragedy
Trott, Abbie Victoria (2024). Intermediality and community circus: Vulcana Circus and disrupting tragedy. International Federation of Theatre Research, Manila, Philipines, 15 - 19 July 2024.
2023
Journal Article
“I don’t know why I cried, but I did.” Diversity and the dramaturgy of impact in Australian theatre for young people
Rae, Paul and Trott, Abbie Victoria (2023). “I don’t know why I cried, but I did.” Diversity and the dramaturgy of impact in Australian theatre for young people. Critical Stages, 28, 1-17.
2023
Journal Article
Review of Mediatized dramaturgy: the evolution of plays in the media age : by Seda Ilter, London: Methuen Drama, ISBN: 978-1-3500-3115-9 978-0-7456-8131-3
Trott, Abbie (2023). Review of Mediatized dramaturgy: the evolution of plays in the media age : by Seda Ilter, London: Methuen Drama, ISBN: 978-1-3500-3115-9 978-0-7456-8131-3. International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media, 19 (1), 139-140. doi: 10.1080/14794713.2023.2170626
2023
Conference Publication
An argument for a living archive: audience diversity and the relationship between data collection and programming
Johanson, Katya and Trott, Abbie Victoria (2023). An argument for a living archive: audience diversity and the relationship between data collection and programming. Australasian Association for Theatre, Drama & Performance Studies (ADSA), Adelaide, SA, Australia, 27 November - 1 December 2023.
2023
Other Outputs
Changing organisations to diversify arts audiences: summary or findings from national survey
Glow, Hilary, Kershaw, Anne, Johanson, Katya, Trott, Abbie, Margieson, Tracy, Taylor, Mark and Enoch, Wesley (2023). Changing organisations to diversify arts audiences: summary or findings from national survey. Melbourne, VIC, Australia: Deakin Univeristy.
2022
Journal Article
Conclusion: Walking beside co-researchers and finding off ramps in PhD dissertation journeys
Chow, Ai Ming, Hyatt, Ed, Mikami, Akina, Ross, Asha and Trott, Abbie (2022). Conclusion: Walking beside co-researchers and finding off ramps in PhD dissertation journeys. Action Learning and Action Research Journal, 28 (1), 153-181.
2022
Journal Article
‘She might find out the truth:’ Action researching with young theatre audiences
Trott, Abbie Victoria (2022). ‘She might find out the truth:’ Action researching with young theatre audiences. Action Learning, Action Research Journal, 28 (1), 72-98.
2022
Other Outputs
A ‘standard’ topic?: theatre, young people and the everyday postdigital
Trott, Abbie Victoria (2022). A ‘standard’ topic?: theatre, young people and the everyday postdigital. PhD Thesis, School of Culture and Communication, University of Melbourne.
2022
Conference Publication
Being with: audiences and artists co-generating knowledge
Trott, Abbie (2022). Being with: audiences and artists co-generating knowledge. Australasian Association of Theatre, Drama and Performance Studies, Auckland, New Zealand, 6-9 December 2022.
2022
Conference Publication
‘Being with:’ Multimedia Images as Collaborative Agents with Human Performers
Trott, Abbie (2022). ‘Being with:’ Multimedia Images as Collaborative Agents with Human Performers. American Society for Theatre Research, Online, 2022.
Supervision
Availability
- Dr Abbie Trott is:
- Not available for supervision
Supervision history
Current supervision
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Doctor Philosophy
Staging Chinese Classics as Walkable Space: Invitation Aesthetics and Audience Routes in Chinas Unique Theatre-Cities
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Emma Cole
Media
Enquiries
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