R. Darren Gobert

R. Darren Gobert specializes in comparative modern and contemporary Western drama, dramatic and performance theory, and the philosophy of theatre. His publications include The Theatre of Caryl Churchill (Bloomsbury) and The Mind-Body Stage: Passion and Interaction in the Cartesian Theater (Stanford UP), which won both the Ann Saddlemyer Prize from the Canadian Association for Theatre Research and the Barnard Hewitt Award from the American Society for Theatre Research. His other honors include a Dean’s Award for Outstanding Teaching and the President’s University-Wide Teaching Award from York University.

From 2015 to 2020, he was editor of the journal Modern Drama.

Current Appointments & Affiliations

Professor of Theater Studies · 2019 - Present Theater Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences

Chair of the Department of Theater Studies · 2021 - Present Theater Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences

Professor of English · 2019 - Present English, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences

In the News

Published September 25, 2023

Six Duke Faculty Hone Skills as Academic Leaders

Published March 24, 2022

How Two Departments Brought a 17th Century Play to Life in 2022

Published May 7, 2019

Duke Adds 21 Faculty to Distinguished Faculty Rank

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Recent Publications

Performance and Modernity: Enacting Change on the Globalizing Stage By Julia A. Walker. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021; pp. xiii + 299, 20 illustrations. $99.99 cloth, $99.99 e-book.

Journal Article Theatre Survey · May 2023 Full text Open Access Cite

Love and Information by Caryl Churchill, or sexuality and gender in non-binary times

Chapter · December 12, 2022 In this chapter, R. Darren Gobert elaborates the written and performative conventions of gender and casting historically, as we move from page to stage. Gobert examines Churchill's Love and Information as it attempts to sidestep gender by not predeterminin ... Full text Cite

The Seven Streams of the River Ota: National Theatre, London, UK

Journal Article PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art · September 1, 2021 Full text Cite

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Recent Grants

Supporting the Arts in Trinity College

Institutional SupportProject Lead · Awarded by Mary Duke Biddle Foundation · 2024 - 2024

Supporting the Arts at Duke

Institutional SupportProject Lead · Awarded by Mary Duke Biddle Foundation · 2023 - 2023

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Education, Training & Certifications

Columbia University · 2003 Ph.D.