Welcome!
My name is Nic Barilar, and I’m a theatre teacher, historian, and professional artist.
I hold a PhD in theatre and performance studies from the University of Pittsburgh and an MA in English literature from the University of Alabama.
This fall, I’m joining the tremendous faculty at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse as Assistant Professor of Theatre Studies! I’ll be teaching courses in theatre history, dramatic literature, performance theory, and directing. I will also direct one show each semester as a part of their 6-production season.
Nic at the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland
Research
Broadly speaking, my research investigates transnational issues in theatre history and I am working on two major projects. The first is a monograph that theorizes censorship as mobile by reconstructing performances of banned Irish plays from across the globe in the 1950s and ‘60s. The second is a co-edited collection that explores the limits of the “theatre of the absurd” as a critical lens by situating both the theory and plays themselves within the context of the African and Asian decolonization. You can learn more about these and other projects by clicking the button below.
Newspaper article from a private collection, published 1958.
Teaching
For the past nine years, it’s been my pleasure to teach undergraduate courses in theatre history, literature, performance studies, acting, musical theatre, voice and articulation, and freshman writing, among others. I have taught asynchronous online theatre courses for general education students, upper-level BFA acting courses, and scenic painting to early-career artists and interns. My pedagogy seeks to help students understand the links between culture and performance and that students can change culture through their own art and scholarship.
Photo Credit: Lovely Day Photography.
Theatre Practice
My experiences as an actor and director deeply inform my teaching and research and vice versa. I’m a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association and have worked across the eastern US in professional and academic settings. In the 2022-23 school year, I’ll be directing Arlene Hutton’s Last Train to Nibroc and an adaptation of Adam Rubin’s children’s book Dragons Love Tacos.
Above: Máiréad Ní Ghráda’s On Trial at PittStages.
Directed by Nic Barilar.
Photo Credit: Danielle Barilar.