BSA Small Grants Fund: Reports on Performances

28th April 2026

The BSA’s Small Grants Fund supports a wide variety of projects. Two recipients of BSA’s SGF share reports about performance-based events that were partially funded by the scheme below.

‘Act Your Age’ – Research in Action in a Collaborative Youth Theatre Project

Last spring, Esme Miskimmin and Katie Knowles (University of Liverpool) worked on a collaborative project with a youth theatre group, Imaginarium, from Prescot, Merseyside and the Shakespeare North Playhouse. The project involved a play, Act Your Age, written by Esme and based on Katie’s original research into all-child acting companies in the Early Modern and Victorian periods, and an exhibition telling the fascinating story of child performers throughout UK theatre history. The project was intended to be entertaining and family friendly – both the play and the exhibition offered opportunities for fun and imagination, but there was also the chance for audiences to rethink the connections between past and present, and to learn about the way that perceptions of work and play change through time, especially in relation to children’s roles in the theatre.

The young actors from Imaginarium were truly wonderful, taking to the Cockpit stage with confidence and enthusiasm and visiting the past through the dramatic device of a time-travelling train and some nifty costume changes (funded in part by a BSA Small Grant Fund). They brought life and clarity to the project in ways Esme and Katie weren’t expecting and showed that approaching academic work though collaboration with the wider community can be hugely beneficial to everyone.

Shakespeare’s Emotional Sound – Performance Research

For three days in May 2025, seven actors, actor-musicians, assistant director Karina Aviva and director Victoria Gartner gathered in Kent at the Barn at Smallhythe Place, Dame Ellen Terry’s home managed by the National Trust, in order to explore ‘Shakespeare’s emotional sound.’

The aim of the research was to explore how words can be removed from Shakespeare while the rhythm and sounds themselves give us clues as to the emotional and physical life of the actors, and to the story developing on stage. The question at the centre of the research is: is there something transmitted purely through sound, through the rhythm of the pentameter and the melody of Shakespeare’s chosen words, that creates emotional meaning for an audience and / or actors?

Actors were given ‘sheet music’ in the form of the iambic, and asked to beat it in time with their character’s turn to speak, not knowing which scene they were playing out. Other experiments involved inviting actors to respond only to sounds, or rhythms, or both. The results were fascinating, with actors sometimes offering incredibly appropriate blocking (Ophelia and Hamlet’s ‘I have remembrances of yours’ for instance) or instinctively accurate guesses as to what was happening in the scene (‘I think there’s a snake’ for Cleopatra’s death, or ‘I think I die’ for Julius Caesar) with only the help of repeated sounds or the beating of a rhythm. The actor-musicians also involved several musical instruments – a drum, pans, a flute, a melodion in their exploration of sounds, as well as singing and movement.

This research built on activities of a first workshop of the same genre and style, and strongly suggests there is a correlation between musicality – rhythm and sound – and our perception of emotions within Shakespeare’s text. This exploration could lead to a new way of exploring Shakespeare, especially for people who might not have access to the language for a myriad of different reasons, and Victoria Gartner will explore it further in an essay representing the research and also in a documentary project.

Applications for the SGF

BSA members in good standing are eligible to apply for up to £500 to support a wide range of activities. The deadline for the next round of applications is 30th September. More details are available here: https://www.britishshakespeare.ws/bsa-small-grants-fund/

BSA Small Grant Awardee Report: Andy Reilly

8th March 2026

Andy Reilly, who received a BSA Small Grant to support his archival research, offers a summary of how the scheme helped him to advance his current research project.

With the generous support of the BSA Small Grants Fund, I conducted a research trip to the British Library and UK National Archives from January 6th to 11th, 2026. This trip formed an essential part of my ongoing project to prepare my doctoral thesis, which focuses on the publication of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet in the early eighteenth century, for publication as a monograph.

While at the British Library, I engaged in close material analysis of the library’s copies of single-text Hamlet editions published between 1710 and 1734. Consulting these books in person allowed me to analyse features that impact the reading experience, including type size, paper, and format.

During the day I spent at the National Archives, I consulted legal documents charting court cases and other arrangements undertaken by the publishers of some of these editions. These documents shed light on significant publishing decisions related to Shakespeare during this period and provide valuable historical context. Overall, this BSA-funded research trip has helped me significantly advance my project by giving me access to the rare books and archive records that underpin my analysis of Hamlet in publication in the early eighteenth century.

The next round of applications for the Small Grants Fund will close on 30th March 2026. BSA members in good standing are eligible to apply for the Small Grants Fund, which offers awards of up to £500 to fund a broad rance of activites. More information about the scheme and application instructions are available here: https://www.britishshakespeare.ws/bsa-small-grants-fund/

AI and Shakespeare: A British Shakespeare Association Virtual Conference (26-27 February 2026)

16th February 2026

In the interests of economy and inclusivity, the BSA will be meeting virtually in 2026 over two half days (26 – 27 February 2026, afternoon, GMT). It will be a chance to reflect upon and take stock of the explosive impact of AI on the Shakespeare community, from the perspective of research, performance, and education. The conference will be structured around opportunities and threats, or briefs and griefs. The conference will also include short round tables on AI and editing (with editors of Shakespeare, Shakespeare Quarterly and Adaptation), forthcoming research on Shakespeare and AI, and Shakespeare, AI and pedagogy. The keynote will be given by Jonathan Bate, ‘Love’s Labour’s Won: An Intelligent Artifice?’.

To attend, membership of the BSA is a requirement, otherwise, there are no conference fees.

To join the BSA, please click here.

Registration for the conference has now closed.

Shakespeare Journal Editorial Board News

12th February 2026

After many years of leadership on the Shakespeare journal, Deborah Cartmell is stepping down as co-editor to concentrate more fully on her other journal, Adaptation (OUP). Professor Cartmell founded Shakespeare in 2005 and has been a co-editor ever since, working initially with John Joughin, Stuart Hampton-Reeves and Gabriel Egan, and with Lisa Hopkins, Brett Greatley-Hirsch and Tom Rutter. Hers has been the guiding hand in the growth and development of the journal and she has worked tirelessly on expanding its reach and ensuring the inclusion of fresh perspectives. She will be very much missed as a co-editor, but the remaining editors are happy that she will now be joining the editorial board. The BSA Board of Trustees thanks Professor Cartmell for her invaluable contribution to the success of the journal.

Todd Andrew Borlik is a Clinical Assistant Teaching Professor in the Cornerstone Program at Purdue University. He was formerly Professor of Shakespeare Studies at the University of Huddersfield and Assistant Professor of English at Bloomsburg University. He is the author of Shakespeare Beyond the Green World (2023), Literature and Nature in the English Renaissance (2019), and Ecocriticism and Early Modern English Literature (2011), along with numerous articles on Shakespeare and his contemporaries. He has co-edited a collection on The Winter’s Tale (with Peter Kirwan) and introduced the New Oxford Shakespeare edition of As You Like It. He is currently preparing a monograph on the ecology of magic on the early modern stage and co-editing (with Karen Raber) The Oxford Handbook of Shakespeare and the Natural World. He has been a long-time member of the BSA and served on the Shakespeare journal’s editorial board. The BSA Board of Trustees welcomes Professor Borlik as co-editor of the journal.

BSA Small Grants Fund: Events Reports

8th February 2026

The BSA’s Small Grants Fund supports a wide variety of projects. Two recipients of BSA’s SGF share reports about events that were partially funded by the scheme below.

Revels Office: New Voices in Early Modern Material Culture, Theatre, and Performance

On Friday 13th June, the Revels Office Research Network, in collaboration with the Society of Antiquaries, held the ‘Revels Office: New Voices in Early Modern Material Culture, Theatre, and Performance’ conference at Burlington House. This hybrid event celebrated the work of early career scholars working on early modern material culture, theatre, and performance in Great Britain and Ireland (1500-1800).

The day encompassed rich reflections on matter and its meaning both inside and outside the playhouse. Papers investigated topics including cosmetics and race-making, costume, the senses, and performances of gender, power, and identity. The panel “Bibliographic Interests: Texts of and in Performance,” which was generously supported by the Bibliographical Society, was a particular highlight, with papers exploring the diary of Philip Henslowe, the early modern cue system, and the career of the printer John Danter. Professor Catherine Richardson FSA gave a fascinating keynote on her new book ‘Shakespeare’s Objects: Engaging the Off-Stage Lives of Early Modern Props’, in which she argued that a sustained engagement with the materiality of objects, the nature of props, and stage practice has a profound impact on the way in which we understand issues of identity and lived experience in the early modern period.

We hosted 45 in-person attendees, with 70 delegates participating online. Feedback from the day was enthusiastic, with attendees praising the ‘fabulous range of speakers’ who covered ‘a great spread of topics’. As an online network founded during the pandemic, this day was a special opportunity for the international Revels Office community to come together to share and celebrate research past, present, and future. The Revels Office would like to thank the British Shakespeare Association for their generous support of the conference.

By Bethan Davies

Shakespeare and the Politics of Subtitling

On 27 October 2024 ‘Shakespeare and the Politics of Subtitling’, a BSA Small Grants-funded event, took place at SOAS. The event brought together three Indian Shakespeares scholars: Dr Anandi Rao (SOAS) who works on Shakespeare and translation, and Drs N. P. Ashley (St Stephen’s College, U of Delhi) and Thea Buckley (QUB), who have both worked on the English subtitles of Kannaki, the film under discussion. An adaptation of William Shakespeare’s play Antony and Cleopatra, Kannaki is a 2002 Indian National Award-winning Malayalam-language tragedy written by Sanjeev Kilikulam and directed by Jayaraj R. Nair, who also participated online at this event as Guest Speaker.

‘Shakespeare and the Politics of Subtitling’ was attended by students, alumni, academics from UK and international universities, translators, and practitioners. The event was convened by Dr Anandi Rao, Lecturer in South Asian Studies at SOAS, University of London. Two academics had worked on the subtitles — NP Ashley, who recently translated The Comedy of Errors into Malayalam as part of his Kerala Shakespeares project, discussed drafting the first iteration of subtitles in an era before AI or auto translations and e-dictionaries. Dr Thea Buckley, who works on Indian Shakespeare in film, performance and translation, and is currently co-editing a special Shakespeare journal issue on Indian cinema, worked on the second draft of the subtitles and embedded these into selected clips from the film Kannaki.

The first part of the session involved a live audience Q&A with director Jayaraj, who appeared online from Kerala and explained the symbolism, narrated filming anecdotes and answered audience questions. Questions ranged from ‘Why Shakespeare?’ to how the lyrics, tunes, language(s) and linguistic setting of the film were chosen. The borders of India’s Southern states were decided after independence along linguistic boundaries. Thus, politics is automatically embedded in acts of choice of script, accent, metaphor, and dialogue in the case of this movie, set on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border.  

Next, N. P. Ashley and Thea Buckley discussed selected scenes from the film and the related challenges involved in subtitling these, from fitting lines onto a single row of onscreen text, and how to handle slang and words with double meanings, to whether to translate for literal sense or to privilege rhythm, metaphor or rhyme? Who is the subtitle for? Which audience? What acts of subalternity inhere? Who is included or excluded? Where does Shakespeare fit in and how is his work translated and re-translated in the act of scripting and Subtitling? Were some of the questions addressed. 

The event concluded with screening more songs and scenes from the film, followed by discussing further reading and further directions of scholarship.

By Thea Buckley

Application for the SGF

BSA members in good standing are eligible to apply for up to £500 to support a wide range of activities. The next round of applications will close on 30th March. More details are available here: https://www.britishshakespeare.ws/bsa-small-grants-fund/

AI and Shakespeare: A British Shakespeare Association Virtual Conference

27th January 2026

In the interests of economy and inclusivity, the BSA will be meeting virtually in 2026 over two half days (26 – 27 February 2026, afternoon, GMT). This conference is organised by Professor Deborah Cartmell and Professor Lisa Hopkins.

The conference will be a chance to reflect upon and take stock of the explosive impact of AI on the Shakespeare community, from the perspective of research, performance, and education. The conference will be structured around opportunities and threats, or briefs and griefs. The conference will also include short roundtables on AI and editing (with editors of Shakespeare, Shakespeare Quarterly and Adaptation), forthcoming research on Shakespeare and AI, and Shakespeare, AI and pedagogy. The keynote will be given by Jonathan Bate, ‘Love’s Labour’s Won: An Intelligent Artifice?’.

To attend, membership of the BSA is a requirement, otherwise, there are no conference fees.

To join the BSA, please click here

To register for the conference, please click here

The conference programme is available here:

Image generated using Midjourney by Brett Greatley-Hirsch.

BSA Small Grants Fund

24th January 2026

Purpose:

The purpose of the BSA’s Small Grants Fund is to offer financial support to members of the BSA who wish to organize a Shakespeare-related event or conduct Shakespeare-related research. We especially encourage proposals from doctoral and early career researchers, teachers and educators, and creative practitioners. 

Examples of eligible costs include:

• Expenses associated with staging performances (e.g. costumes, props, accessibility aids)
• Expenses associated with accessibility (e.g. sign-language interpreting for events or performances; fees paid for captioning videos)
• Fees for online streaming / video platforms (e.g. Crowdcast, Zoom Premium, Vimeo)
• Fees for video editing software (for filmed performances)
• Funding to conduct research, such as travel to a library or archive
• Digitization costs
• Reproduction fees for images 
• Funding for conference attendance as a presenter
• Travel expenses for unsalaried speakers / practitioners.

We welcome applications for awards of up to £500.

Eligibility:

You must be a member in good standing of the BSA (i.e. have paid your membership dues for the relevant period).

How to apply:

The next round of applications closes on 30 March 2026. Application instruction are available via the ‘Small Grants Fund’ icon on your BSA member’s dashboard after login.

Tribute to Andrew Jarvis (6 June 1947–16 November 2025)

9th December 2025

It is with great sadness that we record the death of actor and former Trustee of the BSA, Andrew Jarvis.

Andrew Jarvis’s skill and expertise embraces the entire range of activities associated with Shakespeare. He has been a member of the major acting companies in the UK, from his ten years at the RSC and his brilliant performance as Richard III in Michael Bogdanov’s highly innovative English Shakespeare Company’s production of The Wars of the Roses, through to two seasons at the National Theatre and performances from Sheffield Crucible to the Guildhall in King’s Lynn. His understudying of both roles in the National Theatre production of Harold Pinter’s No Man’s Land. played by Sir Ian McKellen and Sir Patrick Stewart, was acclaimed by them in rehearsals and the audience gave Andrew a standing ovation when Sir Patrick was ill and he stepped in to perform.

Andrew has also been a fine teacher of Shakespearean verse-speaking, at Mountview Academy, and in giving  fantastic workshops for the for the British Shakespeare Association in the UK and at the other side of the globe, for the Australian New Zealand Shakespeare Association in Perth.  Members of the BSA are deeply indebted to Andrew for the boundlessly enthusiastic and imaginative work he did as a Trustee for the BSA. This included a role as Chair of the BSA’s Honorary Fellowships Committee. He was, at the time of his death, busy planning an event in Kings Lynn, to follow the very successful 2019 conference there on Shakespeare in which he and Sir Ian McKellan both gave performances at the Guildhall. His funeral will be on 10 December at 2.30 and his wife Gillian has provided details here. Our thoughts are with her and her family. Andrew’s contribution to the BSA and to Shakespeare studies beyond has been phenomenal and we will miss him very much.

CfP: AI and Shakespeare (BSA Virtual Conference)

21st October 2025

AI and Shakespeare: A British Shakespeare Association Virtual Conference

In the interests of economy and inclusivity, the BSA will be meeting in 2026 virtually over two half days (26 – 27 February, 1.00 – 5.00 pm GMT). It will be a chance to reflect upon and take stock on the explosive impact of AI on the Shakespeare community, from the perspective of research, performance, and education, and the conference will be structured around opportunities and threats, or briefs and griefs. We welcome 5-10 minute presentations on any subject relating to Shakespeare and AI and short abstracts (circa 150 words) should be sent to Deborah Cartmell and Lisa Hopkins by 12 January 2026.

In order to attend or give a paper, membership of the BSA is a requirement, otherwise, there are no conference fees https://www.britishshakespeare.ws/join-the-bsa-or-renew-membership/

To register for the conference, please click here: https://www.britishshakespeare.ws/ai-and-shakespeare-a-british-shakespeare-association-virtual-conference/

Image generated using Midjourney by Brett Greatley-Hirsch.

BSA 2024 Conference: ‘Shakespeare’s Writing Lives’ (26-28 June)

24th June 2024

Conference Programme

Book of Abstracts

Campus Map

Exclusive discount code from Routledge

Routledge, who publish the BSA’s Shakespeare journal, have generously provided a discount code. Conference attendees may use code BSA24 to receive a 25% discount on print and e-books under the ‘Shakespeare’ subject category on www.routledge.com.

(Code is valid from 26^th June until 11^th September 2024.)

Social Media

Follow us on Instagram (@bsashakespeare) and X (@BSA_Conference). Please use #BSA2024 and feel free to tag us!

Teaching Shakespeare Magazine

Code of Conduct

Attendees are expected to abide by the BSA’s Code of Conduct during the conference (as noted in the registration form).

A key aim of the BSA is to bring together a diverse membership of academics, teachers, students, practitioners, and members of the public from the UK and beyond in order to foster a better understanding of Shakespeare and his works. We strive to uphold a sense of community based on respect, understanding, and the principles outlined in our Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity policy. Therefore, the BSA takes seriously any instances of harassment or disrespectful behaviour in any of our activities or events, including in-person and online events, as well as interactions in BSA forums such as Board and Annual General Meetings. Harassment and disrespectful behaviour can take many different forms (manifested verbally, non-verbally, through physical actions, or digitally) and can include incidents such as: crude behaviour; unwanted physical contact or attention (sexual or otherwise); offensive gestures, statements, or jokes; dismissive or demeaning forms of address; threats; coercion.

The BSA condemns and will not tolerate behaviour that demeans, endangers, humiliates, or threatens an individual based on their sexual orientation, gender, race, disability, religious beliefs, age, or professional status, and would encourage anyone who is affected by any such behaviour to make it known to our organization confidentially via our EDI Trustee, Chair, or any other member of the BSA Board of Trustees whom the individual would feel comfortable approaching. The BSA reserve the right to take action, such as the revocation of BSA membership, against anyone who breaches our Code of Conduct and Sexual Harassment Policy.