Long Theatres’s Journey into Staging

There is an increasing discussion in academia of practice as research as a scientifically valid research method, particularly in the performing arts. In theatre, since Peter Brook, the emphasis seems to have shifted from the product to the process. Imagine my surprise when, in 2021, I began my doctoral research on the director’s notebook, with all the enthusiasm of a first-year doctoral student, ready to visit archives, investigate primary materials and, ultimately, learn ‘how it’s done’: there were no archives, no primary materials and not much of a guide to ‘how to do’ artistic research on this subject.