I am available for talks and workshops on topics including object theatre/puppetry, the York Mystery Plays (and other medieval theatre), adapting classic texts for the stage, and community theatre. To contact me, please e-mail tom.straszewski (at) gmail.com.
PREVIOUS WORKSHOPS AND TALKS
2023 - Co-Creator, Brave Spaces Project
Initiated and led by Dr Bridget Foreman, this project challenged appropriation and misrepresentation in the theatre curriculum at the Department of TFTI, co-created with students and staff. Shortlisted for the Inclusivity Network Award at the University of York. I supported the project through workshop facilitation, note-taking, and analysis of workshops.
May 2023 - “Heaven and Earth in Little Space”: Performing the Parish through the York Mystery Plays
Parish and Performance: Twenty-First Warwick Symposium on Parish Research, Warwick
August 2021 - Invited lecture: Doing it in the streets: the 2018 York Mystery Plays as street theatre International Symposium on Mystery Plays and Popular Theatre, Opole, Poland
September 2021 Framing the Domestic in the York Mystery Plays
TaPRA Conference, Liverpool Hope University/Online
April 2021- Playing with the 'Medieval'
Practical workshop on object theatre and medievalism, for University of Lincoln. This 90-minute workshop explores the use of recycling and transformation in the N-Town Plays, using "object theatre"—casting domestic objects as characters in a play—to engage closely with medieval material culture. This workshop is available for other events.
September 2020- York Mysteries @ Home
Talk on staging the Mystery Plays at home, as part of the Humanities Research Centre's Places and Communities conference.
May 2020- The Fall of Lucifer: shared sensations within the domestic space of online theatre
An interactive performance of the Fall of the Angels, using household objects. This developed into my first PhD project, YorkMysteries@Home.
May 2019- Designing and Staging the York Mystery Plays
Talk on design and staging principles, for Poppleton Arts.
Feb 2019, April 2021- Staging the York Mystery Plays
Workshops on adapting and staging practices, for 3rd year University of Wolverhampton students.
June 2018- Performing the York Crucifixion
Workshop on rehearsing the York Crucifixion, and operating the waggon mechanism, for undergraduates from the University of Milwaukee
July 2016- Painting the Town Red: The Crucifixion and Death of Christ
Paper presented at Société Internationale pour l'étude du théâtre médiéval/Records of Early English Drama North-East, 2016 Colloquium, Durham.
July 2015- Palimpsests and performances of the Crucifixion and Death of Christ
Paper presented at Performance in the Changing City: Taking the Plays to the Next Generation, York
PREVIOUS WORKSHOPS AND TALKS
2023 - Co-Creator, Brave Spaces Project
Initiated and led by Dr Bridget Foreman, this project challenged appropriation and misrepresentation in the theatre curriculum at the Department of TFTI, co-created with students and staff. Shortlisted for the Inclusivity Network Award at the University of York. I supported the project through workshop facilitation, note-taking, and analysis of workshops.
May 2023 - “Heaven and Earth in Little Space”: Performing the Parish through the York Mystery Plays
Parish and Performance: Twenty-First Warwick Symposium on Parish Research, Warwick
August 2021 - Invited lecture: Doing it in the streets: the 2018 York Mystery Plays as street theatre International Symposium on Mystery Plays and Popular Theatre, Opole, Poland
September 2021 Framing the Domestic in the York Mystery Plays
TaPRA Conference, Liverpool Hope University/Online
April 2021- Playing with the 'Medieval'
Practical workshop on object theatre and medievalism, for University of Lincoln. This 90-minute workshop explores the use of recycling and transformation in the N-Town Plays, using "object theatre"—casting domestic objects as characters in a play—to engage closely with medieval material culture. This workshop is available for other events.
September 2020- York Mysteries @ Home
Talk on staging the Mystery Plays at home, as part of the Humanities Research Centre's Places and Communities conference.
May 2020- The Fall of Lucifer: shared sensations within the domestic space of online theatre
An interactive performance of the Fall of the Angels, using household objects. This developed into my first PhD project, YorkMysteries@Home.
May 2019- Designing and Staging the York Mystery Plays
Talk on design and staging principles, for Poppleton Arts.
Feb 2019, April 2021- Staging the York Mystery Plays
Workshops on adapting and staging practices, for 3rd year University of Wolverhampton students.
June 2018- Performing the York Crucifixion
Workshop on rehearsing the York Crucifixion, and operating the waggon mechanism, for undergraduates from the University of Milwaukee
July 2016- Painting the Town Red: The Crucifixion and Death of Christ
Paper presented at Société Internationale pour l'étude du théâtre médiéval/Records of Early English Drama North-East, 2016 Colloquium, Durham.
July 2015- Palimpsests and performances of the Crucifixion and Death of Christ
Paper presented at Performance in the Changing City: Taking the Plays to the Next Generation, York