Amateur Theatre Wiki
Performing Citizenship. Social and Political Agency in Non-Professional Theatre Practice in Germany, France, Britain, Sweden and Switzerland (1780-1850).
About the Project
Performing Citizenship (PC) is a research project studying amateur theatre in Europe in the late eighteenth and the early nineteenth century, and the role of non-professional theatre in the development of the modern concept of citizenship. Around 1800, in a time of significant political change and social shifts, the non-professional theatre offered educative possibilities for the acquisition of skills deemed essential to becoming a ‘good citizen’. PC has a particular focus on amateur theatricals in Germany, France, Britain, Sweden and Switzerland between 1780-1850.
The project is funded by the European research council and is based at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. The project started in 2022 and will run for five years. The five project members are Dr. professor Meike Wagner (project leader), Dr. David Coates, Dr. Maria Gullstam, MA Julia Stina Skoglund and MA Katrin Frühinsfeld.
In order to gather information on historical non-professional theatre, involving citizen science/community scholarship, and to create an open access archive for amateur theatres still active today, PC started the present Amateur theatre Wiki in the autumn of 2022.