Dr Paul Dwyer
BA Hons, PhD (Sydney); DEA (Paris 8)
Senior Lecturer
A20 - John Woolley Building
The University of Sydney
Telephone | +61 2 9351 6850 |
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Biographical details
After almost a decade of professional theatre work, mostly as an actor, animateur, director or dramaturg in the field of youth/community theatre, Paul returned to University study in the mid-1990s, gaining a Diplôme d'Etudes Approfondies in Theatre Studies from the University of Paris (8) and a PhD in Performance Studies from the University of Sydney.
His doctoral thesis focused on various modifications of, and continuing challenges to, the theory and practice of Augusto Boal's 'Theatre of the Oppressed'. More recently, his research has examined genres of social performance that relate to reconciliation processes of one kind or another – from analyses of protest actions such as the Aboriginal Tent Embassy through to studies of ‘restorative justice conferences’ in the NSW juvenile justice system and village-based ritual reconciliation ceremonies in Bougainvlle (PNG).
In addition to conventional forms of scholarly research, Paul has a strong track record of developing creative practice-as-research through his involvement with professional theatre companies such as Version 1.0 and Belvoir St Theatre. He has co-devised a number of critically acclaimed documentary theatre pieces, including The Bougainville Photoplay Project which toured nationally in 2010 and was awarded a Melbourne Green Room Award for Best Mise en Scène in Alternative/Hybrid Theatre.
Research interests
- Performance analysis
- Ethnography
- Performance and social change
- Restorative justice
Teaching and supervision
Current Teaching
Paul currently teaches units on performance analysis, performance and its relation to social/political struggle, contemporary "postmodern" performance and ethnographic approaches to the study of rehearsal.
Supervision
- Aspects of theatre architecture
- Theatre design
- Site-specific performance
- New media art
- Community cultural development
In addition to supervising prospective students in any of the areas listed above, he is interested in a number of 'applied theatre' topics (drama/theatre in education, theatre and therapy, performative aspects of various legal processes etc.) and in work that might cross the disciplines of linguistics and performance studies (eg. 'multi-modal' discourse analysis; translation studies etc.).
Current research students
Project title | Research student |
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A Doctor Prepares: an ethnographic account of medical students learning to perform as junior doctors | James DALTON |
Theatre directing as Action Research: testing the Action Research model. | Chung Chuen Gabriel LEE |
The Performance of Ageing - Somewhere Between Hello and Goodbye | Lisa SCHOUW |
The Spectator-Actor Relation in Secondary School EAL Education | Garry SEABROOK |
If You Promise Not to Tell: creating and analysing a theatre performance based on the experiences of gay Sri Lankan men. | Matthew TYNE |
Transformational Role of the Dramaturgy between Drama Production Teams, Critics and Audiences in the Transitional Society of China | Ting ZHANG |
Current projects
- Restorative justice and/as performance. An ethnographic project looking at performative behaviours in various models of restorative justice. The research involves field observations of ‘youth justice conferences’ in the NSW Juvenile Justice system and of ritual reconciliation ceremonies in the villages of Bougainville (PNG).
Associations
Dramaturgy credits with version 1.0 theatre company include CMI (A Certain Maritime Incident), The Wages of Spin, From a Distance, Deeply Offensive and Utterly Untrue and This Kind of Ruckus. He also co-wrote and performed in The Bougainville Photoplay Project and Beautiful One Day (a co-production between Belvoir St Theatre, Version 1.0, Ilbijerri Aboriginal Theatre Company and residents of Palm Island).
Selected grants
2017
- Grace Under Pressure: A verbatim theatre innovation to drive culture change in clinical training; Hooker L, Scott K, Ivory K, Nash L, Dwyer P, River J, Macneill P; DVC Education/Large Educational Innovation Grant.
2008
- Enacting Reconciliation: Negotiating Meaning in Youth Justice Conferencing; Martin J, Dwyer P, Zappavigna M; Australian Research Council (ARC)/Discovery Projects (DP).
2006
- Framing, genre and performance in youth justice conferencing; Dwyer P; University of Sydney/Early Career Researcher.
2005
- Linkage 2005 Round ONE funding commencing 1-7-05 LP No:0560836Maintaining family based placement fo; McConnell D, Dwyer P; Department of Ageing, Disability and Home Care (NSW)/Project Support.
2003
- Evaluation of the Legal Theatre Project for NSW Law Foundation; Dwyer P, Karras M; Law and Justice Foundation of New South Wales/BLO Project.
Selected publications & creative works
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