Assistant Professor of Theatre History Susanne Shawyer will work with the educational organization Theatrical Intimacy Education as it trains colleges, universities and creative-industry organizations in best practices for staging intimacy and violence in theater.
Susanne Shawyer, assistant professor of theatre history in the Department of Performing Arts, has been named affiliate faculty dramaturgy specialist for Theatrical Intimacy Education (TIE). TIE is the premier educational organization that trains colleges, universities and creative-industry organizations in best practices for staging intimacy and violence in theatre.
Shawyer first worked with TIE on the Elon production of “Moment” in 2018. Later that year, Shawyer and assistant professor of performing arts Kim Shively received a Teaching & Learning Grant from the Center for the Advancement for Teaching and Learning in order to bring TIE to campus for a two-day workshop. Shawyer’s relationship with TIE continued to grow through collaboration on presentations about best practices for staging intimacy at the Association for Theatre in Higher Education’s 2018 conference held in Boston, Massachusetts, and 2019 conference held in Orlando, Florida.
Shawyer brings her expertise to the field of theatrical intimacy work through research, presentations and publications. She and Shively are currently working on an article for a special issue on theatrical intimacy for the Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism. This article on theatrical intimacy and actor training in undergraduate training programs reflects on the work Shawyer and Shively have brought to Elon through their work with Theatrical Intimacy Education. This article, along with intimacy choreography for a majority of department productions and training in the department of Performing Arts, continues to place Elon as one of the leading universities embracing these cutting-edge best practices.
Shawyer will continue her contributions to Elon as the dramaturg for “The Wolves in Winter” in 2020.