University of Glasgow

Migration and Home/lessness: Playwriting in a Globalised World

Academic History:

2009 - 2012: Bachelor of Arts in English (Distinction) - University of Copenhagen

2012 - 2013: Masters of Science in Playwriting (2:1) - University of Edinburgh

2013 - 2014: Masters of Letter in Theatre Practices (Distinction) - University of Glasgow

2017 - present: PhD in Theatre Studies

Supervisors:

Dr Michael Bachmann

Dr Graham Eatough

Professor Alison Phipps

Research Interests:

• Playwriting
• Storytelling
• Narratology
• Asylum Policy
• Refugee Crisis
• Migration
• Integration
• Interdisciplinary approaches
• Practice-as-research

We live in polarised times. In the aftermath of the Brexit vote and the 2016 US presidential election, the increasing nationalistic rhetoric around the world, combined with the refugee crisis and increasing numbers of people living outside their countries of birth, the question of how very different types of migrants deal with “home” and “homelessness” is pressing in our time.

My project investigates issues of home (belonging) and homelessness (feeling out of place) by combining an interdisciplinary approach (existential philosophy, narratology and anthropology) with a practice-as-research method (playwriting). Being situated outwith immediate life, thereby between home and homelessness, theatre is able to perform social issues in languages that speak through and beyond words. Dwelling in possibility, playwriting can become a voice-giving medium, making it possible to re-shape senses of home and identity.

Previous Research Projects:

In 2015, I co-founded a cross-cultural theatre company, Leylines. Our first production had a sell-out run at the Govanhill Baths in 2015 and was part of the Southside Fringe in 2016. At the 2016 Scottish Refugee Festival, Leylines collaborated with SIGOHA (Settled In Glasgow – Oral History Archive). We organised three events: a play I wrote, a workshop I facilitated and a night of artistic sharing.  

My dissertation in Theatre Practices was an analysis of how contemporary theatre explores themes of home and homelessness, taking into account the philosophical, historical and theoretical configurations of these concepts. I also wrote a play, Roots, as part of independent research on the MLitt programme. Roots explores themes of home and homelessness and had a reading at The Arches Scratch Night in 2014.

Scholarships:

2011: Erasmus Exchange Scholarship

2012: MSc in Playwriting part funded by by Knud Højgaards Fond and Oticon Fonden

2013: Scottish Funding Council Fee Waiver Bursary for MLitt in Theatre Practices

2017: AHRC Scholarship

Contact Details:

Address: Theatre, Film & Television, Gilmorehill Centre, 9 University Avenue, Glasgow G12 8QQ

Work Tel No: 07447 600875

Email: h.gron.1@research.gla.ac.uk

First published: 25 September 2017