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Professor Dennis Kennedy
Fellow Emeritus, Drama

Biography

Dennis Kennedy is Emeritus Professor and Fellow in Trinity College Dublin, where he held the Samuel Beckett Chair of Drama from 1994 to 2006. His books include The Spectator and the Spectacle: audiences in modernity and postmodernity (2009), Shakespeare in Asia: contemporary performance (edited with Yong Li Lan, 2010), and The Oxford Companion to Theatre and Performance (2010, revised edition 2011). Other works include The Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre and Performance (2 vols., 2003), Looking at Shakespeare: a visual history of twentieth-century performance(second edition, 2001), Foreign Shakespeare (1993), Granville Barker and the Dream of Theatre (1985), and Plays by Harley Granville Barker (1987). He was an advisory editor for The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare (2001). His novel, Fossil Light, was published in 2023. His latest book, Creating Jesus, is a literary and historical approach to the gospel of Mark, and is due to be published in 2024.

His essays have appeared in numerous books and journals and he has delivered papers and lectured widely on theatre and performance subjects around the world, from Los Angeles to Shanghai and from St Petersburg to Kyoto.

Previously he was Professor of Theatre Arts at the University of Pittsburgh, and has held distinguished visiting professorships at the University of California Santa Barbara, the Chinese Central Academy of Drama, the National University of Singapore, the Salzburg Seminar, McMaster University, the University of Victoria, and the University of Wisconsin, and was Senior Fulbright Lecturer at the University of Karachi in Pakistan. In 2010 he was a Fellow at the international research institute "Interweaving Performance Cultures' in Berlin. He has twice been a fellow of the National Endowment for the Humanities in the USA, twice won the Freedley Award for theatre history, received the Chancellor's Distinguished Research Award at the University of Pittsburgh, the Berkeley Fellowship at Trinity College Dublin, and is a member of the Royal Irish Academy and the Academia Europaea (the Academy of Europe). He has organized major international conferences in New York, Dublin, and Singapore, including the large-scale Beckett Centenary Symposium in Trinity College Dublin in 2006.

His own plays have been performed in New York, London, and at regional theatres across the US, and he has frequently worked as a dramaturg at such theatres as the Long Wharf in New Haven, the Lyric Hammersmith in London, and the Shaw Festival in Canada. He also works as a professional director and gives workshops in acting Shalespeare around the globe. In 2005 he directed Shakespeare's As You Like It at the Chinese Central Academy of Drama in Beijing, and in 2006 directed and designed Brecht's The Caucasian Chalk Circle in Dublin. He also writes fiction; his short stories have been published in numerous literary magazines and journals.

Publications and Further Research Outputs

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Dennis Kennedy, Shakespeare's Refugees, Shakespeare Survey 77, 77, 2024, p217 - 225 Journal Article, 2024

Dennis Kennedy, Creating Jesus: The Earliest Record of Yeshua of Nazareth, Eugene, Wipf and Stock, 2024, i-x, 1-209pp Book, 2024

Dennis Kennedy, '"The Woman on the Fifth Floor"', Antioch, Antioch Review, 2019, 682 - 694 Fiction and creative prose, 2019

The Open-Stage Movement in, editor(s)Arnold Aronson , Routledge Companion to Scenography, Abingdon, Routledge, 2018, pp243 - 248, [Dennis Kennedy] Book Chapter, 2018

Preface: On Memorials in, Bi-qi Beatrice Lei, Judy Celine Ick, and Poonam Trivedi , Shakespeare's Asian Journeys: Critical Encounters, Cultural Geographies, and the Politics of Travel, Abindon, Routledge, 2017, [Dennis Kennedy] Book Chapter, 2017

Global Shakespeare and Globalized Performance in, editor(s)James Bulman , Oxford Handbook to Shakespeare and Performance, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2017, pp441-457 , [Dennis Kennedy] Book Chapter, 2017

Dennis Kennedy, The Oxford Companion to Theatre and Performance, Reprint with corrections, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2016 Book, 2016

Dennis Kennedy, 'Dutchtown', New Letters, 2015, - Fiction and creative prose, 2015 URL

Dennis Kennedy, ''Underway Replenishment' (fiction)', 2014, - Fiction and creative prose, 2014 URL

Dennis Kennedy, 'Learning French (fiction)', 2014, - Fiction and creative prose, 2014 URL

Dennis Kennedy, 'Mrs Gomez and Father Murphy (fiction)', 2014, - Fiction and creative prose, 2014 URL

Dennis Kennedy, 'Art Lesson (fiction)', 2014, - Fiction and creative prose, 2014

Dennis Kennedy, ''The Wessex Fragment' ', 2013, - Poetry, 2013 URL

Dennis Kennedy, '"War Babies"', 2013, - Fiction and creative prose, 2013 URL

Dennis Kennedy, ''No Clocks' (fiction)', 2013, - Fiction and creative prose, 2013 URL

Dennis Kennedy, ''Casualty Report' ', 2013, - Fiction and creative prose, 2013 URL

"The Future Is Fusion" in, editor(s)Bi-qi Beatrice Lei and Ching-Hsi Perng , Shakespeare and Culture, Taipei, National Taiwan University Press, 2012, [Dennis Kennedy] Book Chapter, 2012

Dennis Kennedy, The Oxford Companion to Theatre and Performance, Revised paperback edition, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2011 Book, 2011

Dennis Kennedy and Yong Li Lan, Shakespeare in Asia: contemporary performance, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2010 Book, 2010

Dennis Kennedy , The Oxford Companion to Theatre and Performance, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2010 Book, 2010

The spectator, the text, and Ezekiel in, editor(s)Graham Bradshaw, Tom Bishop, David Schalkwyk , The Shakespeare International Yearbook, vol. 10, Farnam, Surrey, Ashgate, 2010, pp39 - 45, [Dennis Kennedy] Book Chapter, 2010

Kennedy, Dennis, The Spectator and the Spectacle: audiences in modernity and postmodernity, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2009 Book, 2009

"Shakespeare and Globalized Performance" in Portuguese translation in, editor(s)João Almeida Flor, Maria Helena Serôdio, Alexandra Assis Rosa and Rita Queiroz de Barros , Shakespeare entre nós, Porto, Campo das Letras, 2009, [Dennis Kennedy] Book Chapter, 2009

Politics and/on the Stage in, Dirk Delabatista, Jo Devos, and Paul Franzen , Shakespeare and European Politics, Delaware, University of Delaware Press, 2008, [Dennis Kennedy] Book Chapter, 2008

Memory, Performance, and the Idea of the Museum in, editor(s)Peter Holland , Shakespeare: Remembering Performance, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2006, [Dennis Kennedy] Book Chapter, 2006

Kennedy, Dennis, Shakespeare, Histories and Nations, European Review, 13, 2005 Journal Article, 2005

Kennedy, Dennis, The Director, the Spectator, and the Eiffel Tower, Theatre Research International, 30, (1), 2005, p1-13 Journal Article, 2005

Dennis Kennedy, The Oxford Encylopedia of Theatre and Performance, electronic edition online, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2005 Book, 2005 URL

Kennedy, Dennis, numerous theatre productions directed, 2005, - Theatre Production, 2005

Lillah McCarthy, The New Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2004, [Kennedy, Dennis] Item in dictionary or encyclopaedia, etc, 2004

British Theatre 1895-1946: art, entertainment, audiences in, editor(s)Baz Kershaw , The Cambridge History of British Theatre, vol. 3 (the introduction), Cambridge , Cambridge University Press, 2004, [Kennedy, Dennis] Book Chapter, 2004

Confessions of an Encyclopedist in, editor(s)W. B. Worthen and Peter Holland , Theorizing Practice: Redefining Theatre History, London, Palgrave/Macmillan, 2004, [Kennedy, Dennis] Book Chapter, 2004

Kennedy, Dennis, Shakespeare ja stsenograafia: XX sajandi lavastuste ajalugu, trans. Lilja Blumenfeld , Tallinn, Estonian Theatre Institute, 2004 Book, 2004

Histories and Nations (foreword) in, editor(s)Ton Hoenselaars , Shakespeare's History Plays: Performance, Translation and Adaptation in Britain and Abroad, Cambridge , Cambridge University Press, 2004, [Kennedy, Dennis] Book Chapter, 2004

Shakespeare Played Small: Three Speculations about the Body in, The Cambridge Shakespeare Library, Cambridge , Cambridge University Press, 2003, [Kennedy, Dennis] Book Chapter, 2003

20 entries, Dennis Kennedy, Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre and Performance, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2003, [Kennedy, Dennis] Item in dictionary or encyclopaedia, etc, 2003

Kennedy, Dennis, The Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre and Performance, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2003, 1 - 1650pp Book, 2003

Shakespeare and the Cold War in, editor(s)Ton Hoenselaars and Angel-Luis Pujante , Four Hundred Years of Shakespeare in Europe, Delaware, University of Delaware Press, 2003, [Kennedy, Dennis] Book Chapter, 2003

Three programme essays in, editor(s)Denis Johnston , Granville Barker at the Shaw Festival, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Academy of the Shaw Festival, 2002, [Kennedy, Dennis] Book Chapter, 2002

Oxford Companion to Shakespeare, Oxford, Oxford University Press, [eds.], 2001 Editorial Board, 2001

22 entries, Stanley Wells and Michael Dobson, The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare, 2001, [Kennedy, Dennis] Item in dictionary or encyclopaedia, etc, 2001

Kennedy, Dennis, Looking at Shakespeare: A Visual History of Twentieth-Century Performance, second, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2001, 1 - 408pp Book, 2001

Shakespeare without his language in, editor(s)Christie Carlson and Jacky Bratton , The Cambridge King Lear CD-ROM Text and Performance Archive, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2001, [Kennedy, Dennis] Book Chapter, 2001

Kennedy, Dennis, Sports and Shows: Spectators in Contemporary Culture, Theatre Research International, 26, (3), 2001, p277-284 Journal Article, 2001

Shakespeare Worldwide in, editor(s)Margreta di Grazia and Stanley Wells , Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2001, [Kennedy, Dennis] Book Chapter, 2001

Shakespeare and Cultural Tourism in, editor(s)Edward J. Esche , Shakespeare and His Contemporaries in Performance, London, Ashgate, 2000, [Kennedy, Dennis] Book Chapter, 2000

Kennedy, Dennis, Shakespeare and the World, Theatre Arts (Shanghai), October, 2000 Journal Article, 2000

Kennedy, Dennis, 12 original plays, 1999, - Theatre Production, 1999

Kennedy, Dennis, dramaturg for many theatre productions, 1999, - Theatre Production, 1999

Kennedy, Dennis, Shakespeare and Cultural Tourism, Theatre Journal, 50, 1998, p175-188 Journal Article, 1998

Koreya Senda and Political Shakespeare in, editor(s)Takashi Sasayama, Ronnie Mulryne and Margaret Shewring , Shakespeare on the Japanese Stage, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1998, [Kennedy, Dennis and Rimer, J. Thomas ] Book Chapter, 1998

Performing Inferiority: Shakespeare's Lesser Plays in the Twentieth Century in, editor(s)Jill Levenson, Jonathan Bate and Dieter Mehl , Shakespeare in the Twentieth Century: Selected Papers from the World Shakespeare Congress in Los Angeles, Delaware, University of Delaware Press, 1998, [Kennedy, Dennis] Book Chapter, 1998

The New Drama and the New Audience in, editor(s)Michael Booth and Joel Kaplan , The Edwardian Theatre: Essays on Performance and the Stage, Cambridge , Cambridge University Press, 1998, [Kennedy, Dennis] Book Chapter, 1998

Kennedy, Dennis, The Language of the Spectator, Shakespeare Survey, 50, 1997, p29-40 Journal Article, 1997

Shakespeare without His Language in, editor(s)James C. Bulman , Shakespeare, Theory, and Performance, London, Routledge, 1996, [Kennedy, Dennis] Book Chapter, 1996

Peter Stein, The International Dictionary of the Theatre, 3, 1996, [Kennedy, Dennis] Item in dictionary or encyclopaedia, etc, 1996

Kennedy, Dennis, Shakespeare and the Global Spectator, Shakespeare Jahrbuch, 131, 1995, p50-64 Journal Article, 1995

Theatrical style, Alan C. Purves, Encyclopedia of English Studies and Language Arts, New York, Scholastic, 1994, [Kennedy, Dennis] Item in dictionary or encyclopaedia, etc, 1994

Kennedy, Dennis, Shakespeare Played Small: Three Speculations about the Body, Shakespeare Survey, 47, 1994, p1-13 Journal Article, 1994

Harley Granville Barker, The International Dictionary of the Theatre, 2, London, St James Press, 1994, [Kennedy, Dennis] Item in dictionary or encyclopaedia, etc, 1994

Kennedy, Dennis, Looking at Shakespeare: A Visual History of Twentieth-Century Performance, first, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press , 1993, 358 + xxiiipp Book, 1993

Kennedy, Dennis, Foreign Shakespeare: Contemporary Performance, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1993, 311 + 28pp Book, 1993

Shakespeare without His Language in, editor(s)Dennis Kennedy , Foreign Shakespeare, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1993, [Kennedy, Dennis] Book Chapter, 1993

His Majesty in Performance in, editor(s)Jan McDonald and Leslie Hill , Harley Granville Barker: An Edinburgh Retrospective, Glasgow, Theatre Studies Publications, 1993, [Kennedy, Dennis] Book Chapter, 1993

The Transformations of Granville Barker in, editor(s)Jan McDonald and Leslie Hill , Harley Granville Barker: An Edinburgh Retrospective, Glasgow , Theatre Studies Publications, 1993, [Kennedy, Dennis] Book Chapter, 1993

Shakespearean Orientalism in, editor(s)Dennis Kennedy , Foreign Shakespeare, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1993, [Kennedy, Dennis] Book Chapter, 1993

Shakespeare Alive in, editor(s)Sandra L. Williamson & James E. Person, Jr. , Shakespearean Criticism, vol. 15 , Detroit, Gale Research, 1991, [Kennedy, Dennis] Book Chapter, 1991

"Man and Superman" and "Major Barbara", The International Dictionary of the Theatre, 1, London, St James Press, 1991, [Kennedy, Dennis] Item in dictionary or encyclopaedia, etc, 1991

A Wide-Awake Dream in, editor(s)Sandra L. Williamson & James E. Person, Jr. , Shakespearean Criticism, Detroit, Gale Research,, 1991, [Kennedy, Dennis] Book Chapter, 1991

Kennedy, Dennis, Ich Bin ein (Ost) Berliner: Hamlet at the Volksbühne, Western European Stages, 2, 1990, p1-15 Journal Article, 1990

Kennedy, Dennis, The Director as Scenographer: Ciulei's Shakespeare at the Guthrie, Theatre Three, 7, 1989, p35-47 Journal Article, 1989

Kennedy, Dennis, Re-viewing Shaw: Recent Biographical Publications, Nineteenth Century Theatre, 17, 1989, p93-106 Journal Article, 1989

Kennedy, Dennis, Plays by Harley Granville Barker, Cambridge , Cambridge University Press, 1987, 257pp Book, 1987

Kennedy, dennis, Granville Barker and the Dream of Theatre. , Cambridge , Cambridge University Press, 1985, 231 + xivpp Book, 1985

Kennedy, Dennis, Granville Barker and the Dream of Theatre. , Cambridge , Cambridge University Press, 1985, 231 + xiv pp Book, 1985

Kennedy, Dennis, Granville Barker and the Dream of Theatre. , Cambridge , Cambridge University Press, 1985, 231 + xiv.pp Book, 1985

Kennedy, Dennis, Granville Barker's Sexual Comedy, Modern Drama, 23, 1980, p75-82 Journal Article, 1980

Kennedy, Dennis, King Lear and the Theatre, Theatre Journal, 28, 1976, p35-44 Journal Article, 1976

Kennedy, Dennis, Review of Orghast at Persepolis, by A.C.H. Smith , Theatre Journal, 25, 1973 Review, 1973

Kennedy, Dennis, The Shiraz-Persepolis Festival, Theatre Journal, 25, 1973, 516-21 Journal Article, 1973

Kennedy, Dennis, poems published in literary magazines, 1965, - Miscellaneous, 1965

All 81 peer-reviewed publications

Research Expertise

Description

Theatre and performance history and theory, especially in 19th and 20th century Europe. History and theory of the spectator. Shakespeare in performance. Scenography (stage design). Theatre directing and dramaturgy.

Recognition

Awards and Honours

Royal Irish Academy (2005), Academia Europaea (the Academy of Europe, 2004), Fellow of Trinity College Dublin (1998), Chancellor's Distinguished Research Award, University of Pittsburgh (1994), George Freedley Award for theatre history (1993, 1985), Office for Advanced Drama Research award for playwriting (1977).