Matthew Wagner

Dr Matthew Wagner is a Senior Lecturer in Theatre Studies at the Guildford School of Acting, University of Surrey, where he has been teaching since 2010. He previously taught at Victoria University of Wellington and the University of Minnesota, where he also completed his postgraduate studies. He has served as Programme Leader for both the BA Theatre and Performance and the MA Theatre (Distance) programmes.

His research centres on the intersections between performance and philosophy, particularly phenomenology. His areas of specialism include Shakespearean performance, dramaturgy, theatrical temporality, embodiment, and spatiality. He explores how time, presence, and materiality function on stage, especially in Shakespeare and Beckett.

The majority of his recent publications focus on Shakespearean embodiment and time, with a cluster of works from 2017 examining corporeality, stage materiality, and temporal structures in Shakespeare’s plays. His earlier work extends into Beckett studies and performance philosophy, reflecting a sustained engagement with the philosophical dimensions of theatre. He has also led a British Academy-funded project on the role of the door in performance.

• British Academy funded project on the door in performance
• Co-authored monograph and edited collections on theatre and time
• Active researcher in performance philosophy and phenomenological approaches to theatre

His scholarly output includes a monograph on Shakespeare, Theatre, and Time (2011), a co-edited collection on Phenomenology and Performance, and ongoing work on a new monograph on the phenomenology of Shakespeare and a project titled Theatre for the Dead.