Alison Findlay

Alison Findlay is a Professor of Renaissance Drama and Director of the Shakespeare Programme at Lancaster University's Department of English and Creative Writing. She specializes in sixteenth and seventeenth-century drama, early modern women's writing, and feminist approaches to literature and performance. As Chair of the British Shakespeare Association, she promotes interdisciplinary engagement with Shakespeare through conferences and public events. Her research explores gender dynamics, site-specific performance, and collaborative projects like the 'Dramatizing Penshurst' initiative focusing on Mary Sidney Wroth's work. She co-directs the Early Quakerism in the North West project, analyzing spatial networks of early Quaker communities. Findlay teaches undergraduate courses on Shakespeare, Renaissance literature, and gender studies, and supervises PhD students in Renaissance drama and women's writing. She collaborates internationally, including with the Australian Centre for the History of Emotions, and is a General Editor of the Revels Plays series.

Her key publications include Women in Shakespeare (2013), Shakespeare and Greece (2017), and The Arden Encyclopedia of Shakespeare's Language (2024). She has co-edited volumes on Twelfth Night and pioneered editions of early modern plays. Findlay's work bridges academic research with practical performance, co-directing the all-female Rose Theatre Company and leading workshops on early modern drama at venues like Penshurst Place and Hoghton Tower.

Current projects include editing Bullough's Narrative and Dramatic Sources of Shakespeare: The Romances and developing a GIS-mapped website for the Quaker Project. Her teaching innovations integrate professional actors into student assessments, enhancing practical engagement with Shakespearean texts.