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Dr Natalie Diddams

Natalie Diddams

Teaching Fellow in Theatre Practice

School of Creative Arts, Performance and Visual Cultures

Email: N.Diddams@warwick.ac.uk

Office Hours: 10am-4pm, Monday-Thursday

About

Natalie is a Sessional Tutor within the School of Creative Arts, Performance and Visual Cultures at the University of Warwick. Natalie holds a BA (Hons) in Theatre and Performance Studies from the University of Warwick, and an MA in Theatre Directing from St Mary’s University College, London. In 2020, she completed her PhD at Manchester Metropolitan University. Her thesis was entitled Making Waves: Comedy, Humour and Laughter as Fourth Wave Feminisms.

Natalie is an experienced theatre director, workshop facilitator and dramaturg. Her recent directing credits include B!RTH (Royal Exchange), Thesmo (West Yorkshire Playhouse, Theatre in the Mill and Square Chapel) and the award winning The Believers Are But Brothers (The Bush, National and International Tour). Natalie is an Associate Artist of Trestle Theatre, the International Schools Theatre Association (ISTA) and the Royal Exchange. Natalie is also Artistic Director of Radicle Comedy; a company that specialises in empowering minority groups through humour and laughter.

Teaching

  • From Text to Performance (First Year Core Module)
  • You, the Performer (Second Year Optional Core Module)
  • Acting in Character (Third Year Optional Core Module)

Professional Associations

  • Member of the Mixed Bill Research Association, 2016-Present. This involved organising a conference at University of Sheffield, and developing funding bids to support the work of women comedy researchers.
  • Member of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), 2015-Present.
  • Board Member for Andro & Eve Ltd., which celebrates queer culture through memorable events, (2017-2019).
 

Research interests

  • The function of comedy and humour within the so-called fourth wave feminist movement.
  • The affective atmosphere(s) generated by collective laughter.
  • Socially-engaged art projects, particularly in relation to ‘minoritarian’ politics.

Publications

Diddams, N. (2019) ‘The Guilty Feminist Army: A Podcast for a Refreshed Politics of Feminism’ in Conjunctions: Transdisciplinary Journal of Cultural Participation (6:1), DOI: HTTP://DX.DOI.ORG./10.7146/TJCP.V6I1.117257

Diddams, N. & Rousell, D. (2020) ‘Fielding Hilarity: Sensing the Affective Intensities of Comedy Education and Performance’ in Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance (25:3), DOI: 10.1080/13569783.2020.1766951

Diddams, N. (forthcoming) ‘Laughter and Affect’ in Routledge Companion to Audiences and the Performing Arts, Reason, M., Conner, L., Johanson, K. and Walmsley, B. (eds)