We undertake research into contemporary performance practices, including theatre for young audiences, European and American acting techniques, scenography and performance lighting, and Stanislavski and his legacy. In addition to laying a strong foundation for continued research in these areas, we are developing new research areas such as digital performance and theatre and social change.

You can see the research interests of our staff and research students on the staff and student profile pages here.

Research is also focussed in our three Centres: the Centre for Digital Production, the Stanislavski Centre for Contemporary Performance and Theatre for Young Audiences.

Research output and publication

Our research reflects the practice interests of staff and students in a variety of outcomes that lead to books and articles, new methods of teaching and learning, diversity in the creative disciplines we teach and in the production work we deliver throughout the year.

The College has a repository to publish and showcase its research, which can be found here https://bruford.repository.guildhe.ac.uk/.

It is a joint repository provided by GuildHE Research for its members; further information can be found here:  https://repository.guildhe.ac.uk/information.html.

All research and staff and research students are strongly encouraged to ensure they place any research or relevant output in the repository.  You will need an account to do this, please contact the Research Manager on [email protected] for further information on how to do this.

Special Collections

Various resources are available to internal and external researchers, including the Special Collections Room which was developed in 2010 for the purpose of housing a series of unique archives and collections.

Current holdings include:

  • The Stanislavski Collection
  • Jean Benedetti Archive
  • Rose Bruford College Archive
  • Rose Elizabeth Bruford Personal Archive
  • Clive Barker Archive
  • David Bolland Kathakali Archive
  • Noel Greig Archive
  • Nick Chelton Archive
  • Theatre for Young Audiences UK Archive
  • Routledge’s Theatre Arts Archive that comprises publications of material connected to Stanislavski studies in the USA (on extended loan)

For further information about these archives and collections please visit this page Course: Alumni, SEAL and FDSL (bruford.ac.uk), or contact the College Librarian at [email protected] or call +44 (0)203 8308 2600