Dr Soudabeh Ananisarab

Dr Soudabeh Ananisarab studied at the University of Nottingham where she completed an MA in English Literature (Distinction) and a PhD in English. Her Doctoral thesis explored the development of the Malvern Theatre Festival during the interwar years and its connections with the playwright, George Bernard Shaw. Soudabeh has previously taught at the University of Nottingham before joining Birmingham City University. She currently teaches on a range of modules, exploring drama both in theory and practice. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a Working Group Coordinator on the Executive Committee of the Theatre and Performance Research Association (TaPRA)

Soudabeh’s research interests are in late nineteenth and early twentieth-century British and Irish theatre. In addition to Shaw, Soudabeh has published on the dramatic writings of D.H. Lawrence and John Millington Synge. Soudabeh is also a theatre historian with a particular interest in regional theatre histories. She is working on her first monograph exploring Shaw’s relationships with the British regional repertory movement. She was recently awarded a Research Award by the Society for Theatre Research to support her work on Shaw’s collaborations with the Manchester Gaiety theatre as part of this project. Soudabeh has also been involved in major outreach initiatives in the past, working with performance venues in Nottingham. Alongside her monograph, Soudabeh is currently preparing chapters on the legacies of Shaw’s involvement with regional theatres, and festival cultures in twentieth-century British theatre. Soudabeh welcomes PhD supervision enquiries in any aspect of modern theatre or theatre history.