Philadelphia Theatre Research Symposium 2026
The Work That Sustains Us: Theatre & the Environment
Tuesday, May 5, 2025
The Philadelphia Theatre Research Symposium (PTRS) is seeking abstracts for the 2026 gathering of theatre scholars and practitioners. We invite proposals for panels and roundtables for our in-person conference at Villanova University this May. This year’s theme revolves around the connections between theatre and environmental sustainability. In 2024, Extinction Rebellion interrupted a performance of Henrik Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People on Broadway with the message that there can be “no theatre on a dead planet.” What is the theatre’s role in environmental sustainability? How has theatre and performance responded to climate change? What methods has the theatre industry used to provoke thought about this important topic, and how has it modeled change?
This year’s keynote is Pulitzer Prize-finalist Lisa D’Amour, whose work has often focused on the theatre’s role in both social and physical environments. Her 2011 performance installation How to Build A Forest, co-created by Katie Pearl, was both a response to the deforestation caused by Hurricane Sandy and a look at how the physical materiality of theatre-making interacts with the environment.
We invite proposals for individual papers or roundtables on topics that could include, but are not limited to:
Environmental activism through theatre
Examples of “going green” in various parts of the theatre industry
Historic examples of sustainable practice
Minimalism and sustainability in design
Pedagogical tools for incorporating environmentalism into theatre classrooms
Plays or performances about climate change and sustainability
Putting live nature on stage
Site-specific theatre
Sustainable practices in theatre technology and theatre management
How to Submit:
Please submit a 250-word abstract for a 15-minute presentation to Bess Rowen at bess.rowen@villanova.edu along with a 100-word biography, including your current affiliation, by Sunday, March 15, 2026, at 11:59pm. Please also include: the paper’s title, the presenter’s name, affiliation, and e-mail address.
About Lisa D’Amour:
Lisa D’Amour is a playwright, educator, and interdisciplinary artist from New Orleans. She received her MFA in Playwriting from the University of Texas at Austin and is the current Distinguished Professor in Playwrighting at the University of Houston. Her theater company PearlDamour creates interdisciplinary, often site-specific works. Recent work includes Ocean Filibuster, a genre-crashing human-ocean showdown, MILTON, a performance and community engagement experiment rooted in five U.S. towns named Milton, and How to Build a Forest, an eight-hour performance installation. D’Amour’s plays have been produced across the country. Notable locations include Manhattan Theater Club’s Samuel J. Friedman Theater on Broadway, Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago, Children’s Theater Company in Minneapolis, Woolly Mammoth Theater in D.C., and ArtSpot Productions in New Orleans. Her play Detroit was a finalist for the 2011 Pulitzer Prize and the 2011 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. D’Amour is the recipient of the 2008 Alpert Award for the Arts in Theater, the 2011 Steinberg Playwright Award, and a 2013 Doris Duke Performing Artist Award. She currently resides in her hometown of New Orleans.
About PTRS:
The goal of PTRS is to provide a forum for theatre scholars and practitioners to share their research and work in order to enter into a dialogue about current trends in theatrical practice and scholarship. Additionally, PTRS seeks to provide a platform for the works of emerging theatre scholars. Panels will consist of paper presentations of 15-20 minutes and will be moderated by a scholar and/or practitioner.
About VUTD:
The Villanova University Theatre Department aims to inform and inspire theatre artists, administrators, and scholars who will impact the future of this dynamic art form. Our culture of creativity engages in rigorous study and the practical application of theatrical theories and techniques. We believe art has the power to transform hearts and minds by challenging both individuals and communities.