ABOUT
Dr Mary Steadman
Artistic Director
2025 - PhD in Drama and Performance, Bath Spa University. Thesis 'Embodying the Eerie: an investigation of the Eerie as a Dramaturgical concept in processes of Directing Devised performance.' HERE.
2023 - Founded Dust Ensemble to reflect a shift in focus, aligning with my practice and research.
2014-2022 - Artistic director of Red Room Productions, directing productions: Red Room, Kusse, Borderland, The Strange Geometry of Time, Dwelling, This Is The Land.
2007-2013 - Co-Founder and joint Artistic Director of the Famous & Divine theatre company.
THE 'DUST ENSEMBLE'
Rooted in research, my practice investigates dramaturgies of the Eerie and Hauntoglogy in performance. The eerie is a feeling that arises with a fascination for the strange and mysterious, holding a tension between the mundane and otherworldly. We create worlds onstage that are grounded in the everyday; the world of a Derelict Mansion, the British Landscape, the Downtrodden Town, the Domestic Garage, which gradually become charged by unknown agencies and forces that unsettle - not to horrify or scare but to reach towards mystery. We engage audiences in the delight of imagining beyond the known, to see mystery as a resistance to hegemony and its flattening effects. Our layered performances explore depth and meaningin the words of Nick Cave -
“We, humans, are made up of a rational, mechanistic side, but we also possess a spiritual side, a dimension that leans towards the numinous, the mysterious, and the poetic. Sadly, the world we live in now has largely abandoned the mystical and sacred side, treating it as an unserious and unnecessary impediment to human progress. We now dwell in an essentially materialistic age, and weird experiences that disturb this rational world are often met with scepticism and derision. Unloved, this aspect of our nature can wither and die.” Nick Cave, The Red Hand Files #345.
The emergent creative process engages with improvisational methods and a strong emphasis on visual dramaturgy to develop highly visual and visceral performances. Our performance approach is lively and playful, addressing universal themes about what and how to live in an uncertain world.
TRAINING
I trained at Dartington College of Arts, where I studied BA Theatre (Hons), specialising in Movement, Release Technique and Improvisation with Mary Fulkerson and Miranda Tufnell. Contact Improvisation with Steve Paxton and Julyen Hamilton. I joined Spiral Theatre in 1992, where I trained in the approaches of Jerzy Grotowski with Nitin Chandra-Ginatra. This became the basis of my Practice as Research MPhil (Drama) at the University of Kent - Thesis entitled 'The Body as Source' ©
I completed a PhD in drama and performance at Bath Spa University in 2025, with a practice-led research entitled 'Embodying the Eerie: An investigation of the Eerie as a dramaturgical concept in processes of directing devised performance'.
TEACHING
I taught as a Senior Lecturer in Acting at Bath Spa University, my specialisms include devising, embodied movement practices, collaborative and ensemble performance practice (2007-2022). My teaching is informed by research and the notion of embodied imagination, as it is central to creative processes. I previously taught at Northampton University, University of Bedfordshire, De Montfort University (Bedford), and as a guest lecturer at Goldsmiths University, London.
Currently teaching as an Associate Lecturer in Performing Arts at Buckinghamshire New University.
QUALIFICATIONS
PhD - Drama and Performance Practice led Research -Bath Spa University - (2025)
MPhil - Drama Practice-based Research - University of Kent (2007)
PGCE Drama - Goldsmiths University of London (1995)
BA (Hons) Theatre - Dartington College of Arts (1985)