Clive Barker, former Senior Research Fellow of the College and an internationally renowned scholar of contemporary theatre practice, gave his extensive archive to the institution in 2004, reflecting the diversity of his work including: actor in Joan Littlewood’s Theatre Workshop; colleague of Brecht’s heirs in the former GDR; leader of celebrated international workshops across Europe and in South America; loyal supporter of the theatrical avant-garde, champion of popular forms, and patron of community based theatre companies; co-founder and co-editor of New Theatre Quarterly; and author of numerous articles and books including the seminal Theatre Games.
The Centre is equally diverse in its research activities, embracing projects both here and abroad on carnival arts, site-specific theatre, urban and rural performative arts, music theatre and opera, and mechanical cabaret. Current projects include Theatre for Development, testing methodologies advanced in international workshops; and Unfinished Histories, recording ‘alternative theatre’ in Britain from the 1960s. The Centre’s Visiting Professors are Chris Baldwin, Director of Spiral (Spain); John Martin, Director of Pan Intercultural Arts; and Lou Stein, founder of London’s Gate Theatre.
The Centre’s Patron is Eugenio Barba who also opened the Clive Barker Library in 2005. This Centre is working to establish a new MA in Theatre for Development for 2012, when the London Olympic Games and Cultural Olympiad commences.
