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Dr Marisa Carnesky
Programme Director for BA Contemporary and Popular Performance
Summary
Dr Marisa Carnesky is an Olivier award-winning performer, director and teacher who is interested in where popular entertainment, contemporary performance and the important issues of our times collide.
She is best known for her immersive theatre ride Carnesky’s Ghost Train which toured nationally and internationally for over a decade until 2015. More recently her experimental group performance work Dr Carnesky’s Incredible Bleeding Woman toured extensively to wide critical acclaim.
Her work has been funded, commissioned and programmed by Arts Council England, National Theatre Studios, The Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Attenborough Centre For The Creative Arts amongst many others. She was awarded a Doctorate from Middlesex University in 2019.
With experience in creating and teaching a variety of performance practices from performance art and avant-garde cabaret to immersive theatre and contemporary circus, she has been nurturing emerging artists to find their own unique visions and voices for over twenty years.
Teaching
Research
Teaching Area
Drama, Contemporary Performance, Popular Performance, Immersive Theatre
Qualifications
PhD – (Dept of Performing Arts- Dr Carnesky’s Incredible Bleeding Woman) Middlesex University (2019)
Fellowship- Arts and Humanities Research Council Fellowship (National Circus and Fairground Archive- Showwomen (2015)
BA Visual and Performing Arts (First Class) University of Brighton
Membership
Equity
University and College Union
Professional Practice
Carnesky Productions Ltd ACE, Heritage Lottery, ACE awards (various, 2014-2022)
Carnesky Productions Ltd ACE National Portfolio Organisation 2008-2014
Artist in Residence at the Roundhouse, London 2008-2011
British Tourism Award Carnesky’s Ghost Train Blackpool 2011
Edinburgh Festival Herald Angel Award -C’est Barbican 2005
Olivier Award – C’est Barbican – Best Entertainment 2004
Time Out Award – C’est Barbican -Best Theatre 2004
Live Art Development Agency Bursary 2000
Marisa Carnesky Company, Carnesky’s Ghost Train Ltd, ACE awards (various 1999-2008)
External Duties
Curator/programmer: Kabaret Kollectiv, Tramshed, 2021 ongoing
Artistic Director, Carnesky Productions Ltd, Established 2009
MA mentor, London School of Contemporary Dance
Associate Artist, Duckie
Publications
Carnesky, Marisa, in Deepwell, Feminist Art and Artivisms Valiz 2020
Carnesky, Marisa, in Kartsaki, Showwomen- The Performance Works of Marisa Carnesky Intellect 2023
Citations
Mock, Roberta, in Chatzichristodoulou, Live Art in The Uk 2020
Butt, Gavin, forthcoming publication 2020
Machon, Jo, The Ashgate Research Companion To Paranormal Cultures 2013
Harris, Gerry and Aston, Elaine A good night out for the Girls Palgrave Macmillian 2013
Machon, Jo, (Syn)aesthetics Redefining Visceral Performance, Palgrave Macmillan 2009
Toulmin, Vanessa, Koringa, From Biknar to Blackpool, Cabinet Magazine 2007
Mock, Roberta, ‘Jews and Sex’ Five Leaves 2002
Johnson, Dominic, ‘It Only Hurts Because It’s True: Recent Live Art and Performance in the UK’, Western European Stages, Vol. 19, No. 1 (Winter 2007).
Keidan, Lois and Daniel Brine, ‘Live Art in London’, PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art, Vol. 27, No. 3 (September 2005).
Johnson, Dominic, ‘Geometries of Trust’, Dance Theatre Journal, Keidan, Lois et al, Exposures, London: Black Dog, 2001.
Julius, Anthony, Transgressions: The Offences of Art, London: Thames and Hudson, 2002.
Machon, Josephine, ‘(Syn)Aesthetics and Disturbance: A Preliminary Overview’, Body, Space & Technology, Vol. 1 No. 1 (2000).
Orr, Casey, Portraits of Anarchists, London: AK Press, 1996
Conference Papers
Showwomen – Roundhouse 2008
Menstronauts – Middlesex University 2017
Menstruating Together In Theatres, Tents and Other Unlikely Locations- Radical Anthropology Group, University College London 2018
Research Interests
Popular Performance, Fairground, Theme Park and Immersive Performance, Contemporary Burlesque, Drag and Variety Arts, Stage Magic Illusion, Working Class and Immigrant Women’s Identity in Variety Entertainment Performance Heritage, Eco Feminism, Corporeal Feminism, Anthropology and Cultural Representations of Menstruation and Menopause, Feminist Performance and Contemporary Ritual.