Jonathan Bollen

I am working on a history of entertainment in Australia between 1946 and 1975, tracking entertainers' movements between theatre, television and night clubs, and analysing evidence of their performance. The research is revealing how practices were transformed, as entertainers adapted acts for presentation on television and international touring. The movement of entertainers between Asia and Australia anticipates government policies promoting Australian artists to the world and cultural diversity at home.

My research on Australian theatre concerns the repertoire of plays in production since the 1950s. In post-doctoral research, I read play scripts, theatre reviews and production archives to understand how productions of new plays transform Australian culture. I am co-author of Men at Play: Masculinities in Australian Theatre since the 1950s, published in Rodopi's Australian Playwrights series. I also have experience in the digital humanities, developing new methodologies for theatre research.