PhD Candidate Receives Honourable Mention in the New Scholar’s Prize at IFTR
Congratulations to Central PhD candidate Anthony Woods, who has received an Honourable Mention in the New Scholars’ Prize at this year’s International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR) Conference.
The International Federation for Theatre Research exists to facilitate communication and exchange between scholars of theatre and performance research throughout the world through its conference events and publishing activities. Founded in 1957, the IFTR includes members from 44 countries and from all continents. It holds an annual international conference as well as regional conferences, research working groups and symposia. It also oversees publication of the journal Theatre Research International and, in association with Brill, publishes the series Themes in Theatre, which is dedicated to collective work by IFTR members.
This year’s IFTR Conference was hosted by the University of Ghana in Accra from 24 – 28 July 2023 and was centered on the theme The Stories We Tell: Myths, Myth Making and Performance.
A number of members of Central’s academic and research community presented papers at the 2023 IFTR Conference including Vice Principal Professor Maria Delgado, Dr Sarah Grochala, Dr Olga Danylyuk, Dr Joe Parslow, Dr Tom Six, Professor Tony Fisher, Cariad Astles, Dr Lynne Kendrick, Dr Amanda Stuart-Fisher and Professor Selina Busby, as well as Central Phd Candidates Nike Jonah, Anthony Woods, Paul Edwards, Clio Unger, Nadine Deller and Zoe Zhang. Professor Maria Delgado, Dr Lynne Kendrick, Dr Joe Parslow and Dr Sarah Grochala also chaired and convened panels.
As a part of the annual conference, the IFTR also runs two annual essay competitions – the New Scholars’ Prize and the Helsinki Prize.
Central PhD Candidate Anthony Woods was awarded an Honourable Mention in the New Scholars’ Prize, which is awarded to the best essay, judged on originality, coherence and rigour. For consideration of the judging panel, Anthony submitted an essay which was entitled Subject & Structure: violence in actor training. As well as being a PhD candidate, Anthony is also a graduate of Central’s BA (Hons) Acting and MA Actor Training and Coaching and has taught across a number of courses at the School.
Speaking of their Honourable Mention, Anthony Woods said:
“I would like to thank everyone in Research for contributing to the kind of environment which has allowed me to attend IFTR in Ghana this year; it has been an amazing experience. The opportunities to connect and converse with practitioners and researchers from all over the world has been invaluable and I look forward to continuing these conversations next year in Maynila.”
Dr Tom Six, Reader in Politics and Performance and Head of the Research Degrees Programme at Central, said:
“I was delighted and wholly unsurprised to see our postgraduate researchers performing so impressively at the IFTR conference. Their contributions – whether disseminating the findings of their own research or engaging with the work of others – consistently demonstrated the considered, rigorous and engaged approach that it is my privilege to encounter every week in supervisions and seminars. Congratulations to all of them.”
Professor Tony Fisher, Professor of Theatre, Politics and Aesthetics and Head of Research Strategy and Culture at Central, said:
“Huge congratulations to Anthony and great news for Central. Anthony’s Honourable Mention is a great achievement and I’m delighted for him. It reflects very well indeed on the strength of postgraduate research at Central (many of our PGRs attended IFTR in Accra this year and gave great presentations), the intellectual vibrancy of its students and the currency of their work on an international level.”
Find out more about the International Federation of Theatre Research and the 2023 Conference by visiting the IFTR website.
Learn more about Research at Central, including information about the School’s Research Degrees Programme, on the research section of our website.