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 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, '"The Woman on the Fifth Floor"', Antioch, Antioch Review, 2019, 682 - 694
The Open-Stage Movement in, editor(s)Arnold Aronson , Routledge Companion to Scenography, Abingdon, Routledge, 2018, pp243 - 248, [Dennis Kennedy]
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]
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]
Dennis Kennedy, The Oxford Companion to Theatre and Performance, Reprint with corrections, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2016
Dennis Kennedy, 'Dutchtown', New Letters, 2015, -
Dennis Kennedy, ''Underway Replenishment' (fiction)', 2014, -
Dennis Kennedy, 'Learning French (fiction)', 2014, -
Dennis Kennedy, 'Mrs Gomez and Father Murphy (fiction)', 2014, -
Dennis Kennedy, 'Art Lesson (fiction)', 2014, -
Dennis Kennedy, ''The Wessex Fragment' ', 2013, -
Dennis Kennedy, '"War Babies"', 2013, -
Dennis Kennedy, ''No Clocks' (fiction)', 2013, -
Dennis Kennedy, ''Casualty Report' ', 2013, -
"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]
Dennis Kennedy, The Oxford Companion to Theatre and Performance, Revised paperback edition, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2011
Dennis Kennedy and Yong Li Lan, Shakespeare in Asia: contemporary performance, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2010
Dennis Kennedy , The Oxford Companion to Theatre and Performance, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 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]
Kennedy, Dennis, The Spectator and the Spectacle: audiences in modernity and postmodernity, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 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]
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]
Memory, Performance, and the Idea of the Museum in, editor(s)Peter Holland , Shakespeare: Remembering Performance, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2006, [Dennis Kennedy]
Kennedy, Dennis, Shakespeare, Histories and Nations, European Review, 13, 2005
Kennedy, Dennis, The Director, the Spectator, and the Eiffel Tower, Theatre Research International, 30, (1), 2005, p1-13
Dennis Kennedy, The Oxford Encylopedia of Theatre and Performance, electronic edition online, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2005
Kennedy, Dennis, numerous theatre productions directed, 2005, -
Lillah McCarthy, The New Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2004, [Kennedy, Dennis]
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]
Confessions of an Encyclopedist in, editor(s)W. B. Worthen and Peter Holland , Theorizing Practice: Redefining Theatre History, London, Palgrave/Macmillan, 2004, [Kennedy, Dennis]
Kennedy, Dennis, Shakespeare ja stsenograafia: XX sajandi lavastuste ajalugu, trans. Lilja Blumenfeld , Tallinn, Estonian Theatre Institute, 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]
Shakespeare Played Small: Three Speculations about the Body in, The Cambridge Shakespeare Library, Cambridge , Cambridge University Press, 2003, [Kennedy, Dennis]
20 entries, Dennis Kennedy, Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre and Performance, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2003, [Kennedy, Dennis]
Kennedy, Dennis, The Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre and Performance, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2003, 1 - 1650pp
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]
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]
Oxford Companion to Shakespeare, Oxford, Oxford University Press, [eds.], 2001
22 entries, Stanley Wells and Michael Dobson, The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare, 2001, [Kennedy, Dennis]
Kennedy, Dennis, Looking at Shakespeare: A Visual History of Twentieth-Century Performance, second, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2001, 1 - 408pp
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]
Kennedy, Dennis, Sports and Shows: Spectators in Contemporary Culture, Theatre Research International, 26, (3), 2001, p277-284
Shakespeare Worldwide in, editor(s)Margreta di Grazia and Stanley Wells , Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2001, [Kennedy, Dennis]
Shakespeare and Cultural Tourism in, editor(s)Edward J. Esche , Shakespeare and His Contemporaries in Performance, London, Ashgate, 2000, [Kennedy, Dennis]
Kennedy, Dennis, Shakespeare and the World, Theatre Arts (Shanghai), October, 2000
Kennedy, Dennis, 12 original plays, 1999, -
Kennedy, Dennis, dramaturg for many theatre productions, 1999, -
Kennedy, Dennis, Shakespeare and Cultural Tourism, Theatre Journal, 50, 1998, p175-188
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 ]
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]
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]
Kennedy, Dennis, The Language of the Spectator, Shakespeare Survey, 50, 1997, p29-40
Shakespeare without His Language in, editor(s)James C. Bulman , Shakespeare, Theory, and Performance, London, Routledge, 1996, [Kennedy, Dennis]
Peter Stein, The International Dictionary of the Theatre, 3, 1996, [Kennedy, Dennis]
Kennedy, Dennis, Shakespeare and the Global Spectator, Shakespeare Jahrbuch, 131, 1995, p50-64
Theatrical style, Alan C. Purves, Encyclopedia of English Studies and Language Arts, New York, Scholastic, 1994, [Kennedy, Dennis]
Kennedy, Dennis, Shakespeare Played Small: Three Speculations about the Body, Shakespeare Survey, 47, 1994, p1-13
Harley Granville Barker, The International Dictionary of the Theatre, 2, London, St James Press, 1994, [Kennedy, Dennis]
Kennedy, Dennis, Looking at Shakespeare: A Visual History of Twentieth-Century Performance, first, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press , 1993, 358 + xxiiipp
Kennedy, Dennis, Foreign Shakespeare: Contemporary Performance, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1993, 311 + 28pp
Shakespeare without His Language in, editor(s)Dennis Kennedy , Foreign Shakespeare, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1993, [Kennedy, Dennis]
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]
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]
Shakespearean Orientalism in, editor(s)Dennis Kennedy , Foreign Shakespeare, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1993, [Kennedy, Dennis]
Shakespeare Alive in, editor(s)Sandra L. Williamson & James E. Person, Jr. , Shakespearean Criticism, vol. 15 , Detroit, Gale Research, 1991, [Kennedy, Dennis]
"Man and Superman" and "Major Barbara", The International Dictionary of the Theatre, 1, London, St James Press, 1991, [Kennedy, Dennis]
A Wide-Awake Dream in, editor(s)Sandra L. Williamson & James E. Person, Jr. , Shakespearean Criticism, Detroit, Gale Research,, 1991, [Kennedy, Dennis]
Kennedy, Dennis, Ich Bin ein (Ost) Berliner: Hamlet at the Volksbühne, Western European Stages, 2, 1990, p1-15
Kennedy, Dennis, The Director as Scenographer: Ciulei's Shakespeare at the Guthrie, Theatre Three, 7, 1989, p35-47
Kennedy, Dennis, Re-viewing Shaw: Recent Biographical Publications, Nineteenth Century Theatre, 17, 1989, p93-106
Kennedy, Dennis, Plays by Harley Granville Barker, Cambridge , Cambridge University Press, 1987, 257pp
Kennedy, dennis, Granville Barker and the Dream of Theatre. , Cambridge , Cambridge University Press, 1985, 231 + xivpp
Kennedy, Dennis, Granville Barker and the Dream of Theatre. , Cambridge , Cambridge University Press, 1985, 231 + xiv pp
Kennedy, Dennis, Granville Barker and the Dream of Theatre. , Cambridge , Cambridge University Press, 1985, 231 + xiv.pp
Kennedy, Dennis, Granville Barker's Sexual Comedy, Modern Drama, 23, 1980, p75-82
Kennedy, Dennis, King Lear and the Theatre, Theatre Journal, 28, 1976, p35-44
Kennedy, Dennis, Review of Orghast at Persepolis, by A.C.H. Smith , Theatre Journal, 25, 1973
Kennedy, Dennis, The Shiraz-Persepolis Festival, Theatre Journal, 25, 1973, 516-21
Kennedy, Dennis, poems published in literary magazines, 1965, -
Non-Peer-Reviewed Publications
Dennis Kennedy, The Beckett Centenary Symposium, April 2006, 2006, Trinity College Dublin
Kennedy, Dennis et al., The Beckett Centenary Symposium, April 2006, 2006, Trinity College Dublin
Kennedy, Dennis , The Bard in China, Around the Globe, 21, 2005, p34 - 35
Kennedy, Dennis, Shakespeare and Modern Popular Culture , Review of Shakespeare and Modern Popular Culture , by Douglas Lanier , Around the Globe, 23, (spring), 2003
Kennedy, Dennis Gibson, Melissa, William Archer, Review of William Archer, by Peter Whitebrook , Theatre Survey, 35, 1994
Kennedy, Dennis, The Social Significance of Modern Drama, Review of The Social Significance of Modern Drama (re-issue), by Emma Goldman , Theatre Three, 5, 1988
Kennedy, Dennis, Granville Barker, Review of three books on Granville Barker, by Eric Salmon, Jan McDonald, Christine Dymkowski , Theatre Journal, 39, 1987
Kennedy, Dennis, Betrayal at the National Theatre, London, Review of Betrayal , Theatre Journal, 31, 1979
Kennedy, Dennis, Royal Shakespeare Company, Review of Antony and Cleopatra and The Changeling, Theatre Journal, 31, 1979
Kennedy, Dennis, Free Shakespeare, Review of Free Shakespeare, by J.R. Brown , Theatre Journal, 28, 1976
Kennedy, Dennis, Review of Olivier, by Logan Gourlay , Theatre Journal, 27, 1975
Kennedy, Dennis, Where extremes meet: Re-reading Brecht and Beckett, April 2001, Dublin
Kennedy, Dennis, over 70 keynote lectures or conference papers, various, various
Kennedy, Dennis, Symposium on Harold Pinter, April 1997, Dublin
Kennedy, Dennis, Public lectures around the world in universities and other forums (e.g., Taipei, Beijing, Shanghai, Kyoto, Singapore, Lisbon, St Petersburg, Cambridge, Bristol, Paris, Bochum, Berlin, many locations in North America, conferences, etc, various
Kennedy, Dennis, Shakespeare and Ireland, March 1997, Dublin
Kennedy, dennis, Beckett 90, April 1996, Dublin
Kennedy, Dennis, over 20 programme essays for professional theatre productions, various
Kennedy, Dennis, Theatre in Crisis/Theatre of Crisis, November 1994, In:American Society for Theatre Research, New York
Kennedy, Dennis, Shakespeare in the New Asias, June 2002, Singapore
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.Projects
- Title
- The Persistence of Orientalism
- Summary
- A philosophical investigation of the nature and meaning of exoticism. While the background is historical and will involve questions about tourism and the touristic, the purpose is to investigate the West's relation to East and Southeast Asia in cultural and political performance, in and out of the playhouse.
- Funding Agency
- Research Centre 'Interweaving Performane Cultures', Berlin
Recognition
Representations
DISTINGUISHED VISITING APPOINTMENTS:University of California, Santa Barbara, Distinguished Visiting Professor, January-April 2008. Chinese Central Academy of Drama, Beijing, Distinguished Visiting Director, April-June 2005. National University of Singapore, Meyer Fellow, March 2003. University of Wisconsin-Madison, Halls Visiting Scholar, November 1997. University of Victoria, Visiting Orion Professor, February 1995. McMaster University, Hooker Distinguished Visiting Professor, September 1994.
Chair, Committee for the Study of Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication, Royal Irish Academy
Board of Advisors, Centre for International Theatre and Performance Research, Royal Holloway, University of London
Board of Advisors, Asian Shakespeare Intercultural Archive (A-S-I-A), a web-based archive of media
Corresponding Scholar, Shaw Festival, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada
Board of Directors, Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin
Board of Advisors, Quantum Theatre, Pittsburgh
Frequent external examiner, assessor, and reviewer in UK, Canada, and USA.
Board of Advisors, the New Rude Mechanicals, New York
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).
Memberships
Academia Europaea, American Society for Theatre Research, Association for Theatre in Higher Education, Dramatists Guild, International Federation for Theatre Research, International Shakespeare Association, Royal Irish Academy, Shakespeare Association of America