Dr Grant Peterson
Honorary Senior Lecturer

Research area(s)

• British Alternative Theatre and Outdoor Performance Histories, Politics, and Practices
• Theatre Historiography
• Gender and Sexuality
• Musical Theatre
• Student Experience and Educational Settings

Research Interests

Dr Grant Peterson's research spans British alternative and experimental theatre, theatre historiography, gender and sexuality studies, musical theatre pedagogy, and the relationship between performance, identity, and educational experience. His scholarship combines historical inquiry, cultural analysis, ethnographic methods, and interdisciplinary collaboration.

His postgraduate research at the University of California, Los Angeles examined gender performance and changing masculinities within gay dance cultures, drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and embodied research methods. This work informed publications in Journal of Homosexuality, The Journal of Men's Studies, and edited collections addressing gender, sexuality, and performance.

His doctoral research at Royal Holloway, University of London developed a historiographical reassessment of British alternative theatre, focusing on street performance, political intervention, and the cultural significance of unconventional performance spaces. Subsequent publications have examined experimental theatre companies, Situationist influences, radical performance practices, and the intersections of theatre history and social change. His recent article, “Moore to Theatre Past: Queer Historiography and the Partnership of John Henry Moore and Jim Haynes as Foundational to British Alternative Performance Practices,” was published in Contemporary Theatre Review.

Peterson is developing a monograph under contract with Methuen Drama/Bloomsbury Academic, Interventionist Street Practices in England: Performing Mischief from the Sixties to Banksy. The book explores the histories, politics, and cultural significance of interventionist street performance in England from the 1960s to the present.

His research also addresses inclusive approaches to performance training and the student experience in higher education. Publications include collaborative work on musical theatre pedagogy and mixed-ability learning, as well as “Harmonising Neurodiversity in Musical Theatre Training: A Teacher–Student Dialogue,” co-authored with former undergraduate student Libby Vogel and published in Theatre, Dance and Performance Training in 2025.

Extending this interdisciplinary work, Peterson has collaborated with researchers in the health sciences on the physiological dimensions of singing, including respiratory and postural responses to vocalisation and tempo. This research connects performance practice with emerging scientific inquiry into the effects of singing.

As principal investigator, Peterson led a FAPESP–Brunel-funded research partnership with Professor Larissa de Oliveira Neves at the University of Campinas, Brazil, examining marginalised theatre practices and historical connections between British and Brazilian performance cultures. He subsequently supported Professor Neves's research fellowship at Brunel University London.

Peterson continues his scholarly work as Honorary Senior Lecturer at Brunel University London while teaching acting and musical theatre in Southern California.