Tom Cantrell

Professor Tom Cantrell is a leading academic in Theatre at the School of Arts and Creative Technologies, University of York, where he serves as Head of School since 2025. His career spans roles like Associate Dean for Learning, Teaching and Students in the Arts and Humanities, and he has taught on BA and MA programmes in Theatre-making.

• Research Focus: Acting theory, television performance, verbatim and documentary theatre, modern British political theatre, and theatre R&D practices
• Key Publications: Four books on acting processes (including Acting in British Television and Acting in Documentary Theatre), co-edited volumes, and chapters exploring industry-specific acting challenges

His recent research includes tribunal theatre and Grenfell Tower Inquiry (2023-2024), while ongoing projects like PLAYON! (2019-2023) explore immersive storytelling technologies. He has held visiting professorships at Université de Picardie Jules Verne and Concordia University, with a focus on psychophysical approaches to media-specific acting.

• Grants: European Commission-funded PLAYON! New Storytelling with Immersive Technologies (2019-2023); internal RPF grant for live theatre broadcasts research (2014-2015)