Lizzie Conrad Hughes

Lizzie Conrad Hughes

Shakespeare Institute
Doctoral researcher

Contact details

PhD title: Can modern experience and experimentation clarify offstage Renaissance playhouse processes?
Supervisors: Dr Abigail Rokison-Woodall and Dr Chris Laoutaris
PhD Shakespeare Studies

Qualifications

  • PGCE (Oxford University)
  • MA (Hons) (Leeds University)
  • BA (Hons) (Hull University)

Biography

After working as a schoolteacher in the 1990s, Lizzie retrained as an actor and is still a working theatre professional. In 2017, Lizzie founded Shake-Scene Shakespeare, the only theatre company in the UK currently dedicated to performing and teaching the Original Renaissance Practice of working from cued parts. Actors receive their lines and cue words only, never the whole play, and the cast do not rehearse together before performance. This is following the practices of the original playhouse players of Shakespeare. Lizzie works constantly as the company's Artistic Director, creating new productions for online and in-person performance.

Teaching

  • Two years as a secondary school teacher, Ulverston Victoria High School, 1992-94
  • Ten years experience as a teacher of Shakespeare for actors to students of all ages and experience levels, UK & abroad
  • Nineteen years experience as a private tutor

Research

My research is practice-led, and focuses on the offstage processes employed by Renaissance theatre-makers (players and offstage crew) in the staging of a performance. Practice will explore theories brought up from reading and experience. Current project structure covers: Pre-Performance Preparation: the Prompter, The Playhouses; Plots, and Parts.

Publications

Article

  • Shakespeare’s repeated cues: Are we missing something?, Question Journal, 2017, Issue: 1, Volume: 1, Page Numbers: 80-88