Theatre and Performance Studies
Theatre and Performance Studies is a research topic within Visual Arts and Performing Arts. Science Explorer counts 18k research works in it since 1950. 10.1% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.
This cluster of papers encompasses a wide range of topics related to theatrical performance, including theatre, performance art, drama education, audience experience, performativity, immersive theatre, globalization, and social transformation. It explores the interdisciplinary study of theatrical performance and theory in various cultural and historical contexts.
- Theatre
- Performance Art
- Drama Education
- Cultural Practice
- Audience Experience
- Applied Theatre
- Performativity
- Immersive Theatre
- Globalization
- Social Transformation
- Research works
- 18k fractional, since 1950
- In the world top 10%
- 1.9k per year above
- Top-10% rate
- 10.1% share of its works in the world top 10%
- Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
- -4% the tick is no change
- Largest producer
United States
33% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Which countries lead Theatre and Performance Studies research?
By volume, the United States and the United Kingdom publish the most (840 and 534 works in 2022-now).
By volume, 2022-now
- 1
United States
840 works
- 2
United Kingdom
534 works
- 3
Brazil
209 works
- 4
India
183 works
- 5
Australia
157 works
- 6
China
146 works
- 7
Canada
132 works
- 8
France
123 works
- 9
Türkiye
94 works
- 10
Romania
93 works
How concentrated that is
The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.
Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.
Which institutions lead Theatre and Performance Studies research?
By volume in 2022-now, Film Independent publishes the most Theatre and Performance Studies research, followed by University of Baghdad and The University of Sydney.
By volume, 2022-now
- 1
Film IndependentUnited States
39 works
- 2
University of Baghdad
Iraq
23 works
- 3
The University of SydneyAustralia
22 works
- 4
City University of New YorkUnited States
21 works
- 5
Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance
21 works
- 6
Universidade de São PauloBrazil
20 works
- 7
The University of MelbourneAustralia
20 works
- 8
Babeș-Bolyai UniversityRomania
20 works
- 9
New York UniversityUnited States
18 works
- 10
University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom
17 works
Who are the leading researchers in Theatre and Performance Studies?
The most-cited researchers publishing on Theatre and Performance Studies include James Thomas, Trevor William Robbins and Paul M. Thompson.
- 1
James Thomas
United Kingdom
242k citations
- 2
Trevor William Robbins
United Kingdom
199k citations
- 3
Paul M. Thompson
United States
196k citations
- 4
Martin J. White
France
183k citations
Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.
Where is Theatre and Performance Studies research done?
The largest centres of Theatre and Performance Studies research in 2022-now are London (United Kingdom), New York (United States), Los Angeles (United States) and Paris (France). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Cluj-Napoca.
Largest cities, 2022-now
- 1
LondonUnited Kingdom
125 works
- 2
New YorkUnited States
62 works
- 3
Los AngelesUnited States
55 works
- 4
ParisFrance
46 works
- 5
MelbourneAustralia
40 works
- 6
São PauloBrazil
39 works
- 7
SydneyAustralia
36 works
- 8
BeijingChina
31 works
- 9
BaghdadIraq
30 works
- 10
TorontoCanada
26 works
Where it is the local speciality
- Cluj-NapocaRO · 23.1 works10×
Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Theatre and Performance Studies than the world average.
Where is the best place to study Theatre and Performance Studies?
Among universities, judged by research, The University of Melbourne, The University of Sydney and University of Warwick score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.
One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.
Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.
Every institution in Theatre and Performance Studies, country by countryIs Theatre and Performance Studies research growing?
Output in 2022-2025 was 4% lower than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025.
The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.
Its share of all research
Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Theatre and Performance Studies as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.015% in 2024.
Fractional works of Theatre and Performance Studies over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.
How much of it reaches the world top 10%
Year by year.
Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.
Which topics inside it are moving
Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.
Discussion
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