Louise Emma Lepage

My research is concerned with the relationship of technology and humans as they appear in plays and performances. I am interested in such questions as: Are we posthuman (i.e. evolving into something new with technology)? If so, when did we become posthuman? How do plays and performances respond to changing notions about human being, including posthuman being? My interest primarily focuses on contemporary theatre but my research into posthumanism and humanism has also led me to the early modern period and to Naturalist Theatre.

More recently, my research has focused on robots and theatre. I am interested in robots’ performative potential, in particular, the kinds of characters that sociable robots might play to encourage humans to believe in them, i.e. imaginatively and emotionally to invest in them. I have a website: www.robottheatre.co.uk where some of the work I have conducted may be found.

I have a monograph forthcoming with Palgrave: Theatre and the Posthuman: A Subject of Character. My co-edited book (with Siân Adiseshiah), Twenty-first Century Drama: What Happens Now was published in July 2016. 

I have also published on Simon Stephens, Sarah Kane, and Katie Mitchell.