Lucy Holehouse

• BA English Literature with honours (University of Greenwich)
• MA Shakespeare Studies (Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham)

I am a Doctoral candidate at The Shakespeare Institute, funded by Midlands4Cities Doctoral Training Partnership. My project looks at the Chamberlain’s and King’s Men’s repertory through the lens of disguise tropes, arguing that their continued development and use of said tropes, especially in times of company upheaval, is indicative of distinguishing company characteristics. In analysing the repertory through distinct characteristics, I hope to develop and promote a more subtle understanding of the features of London theatre companies in the period.

Beyond this, I am interested in company practices, including apprenticeships and casting practices, and the development of new dramatic genres in Elizabethan and Jacobean England.

My research analyses the different ways disguise is presented and utilised in the Chamberlain’s and King’s Men’s company. By analysing both the textual and material indications of disguise through the broader context of the company’s changes, I hope to show how theatre history, material culture, and literary analysis can all work together to present a clearer picture of the London companies.

2020

• General Editor, Shakespeare Institute Review. (Ongoing).
• Presenter, 'The Perfect Disguise?: Forced Reveals in Cardenio and TheHonest Man's Fortune', The Shakespeare Institute, Online.

2019

• Orders Assistant, The Malone Society. (Ongoing).
• Panel chair, Representing Gender, British Graduate Shakespeare Conference, The Shakespeare Institute, Stratford-upon-Avon​.
• Treasurer of the Twenty-First Annual British Graduate Shakespeare Conference (BritGrad), The Shakespeare Institute, Stratford-upon-Avon.

2018

• Presenter, 'Pinching Slutty Maids: The Supernatural and Domestic Control in Shakespeare', British Graduate Shakespeare Conference, The Shakespeare Institute, Stratford-upon-Avon.
• Presenter, 'Pinching Slutty Maids: The Supernatural and Domestic Control in Shakespeare', EMREM Annual Symposium, University of Birmingham, Birmingham​.