I came to academia from the theatre where I had been Literary Manager of the Royal Shakespeare Company. I have been Senior Research fellow at De Montfort University, Leicester, and Reader, Professor and Emeritus Professor at Kingston University.
Emeritus Professor of Drama
COLIN CHAMBERS, a former journalist and Literary Manager of the Royal Shakespeare Company (1981-1997), is Emeritus Professor of Drama at Kingston University, London. His stage writing includes co-authoring Kenneth's First Play and Tynan, and adapting David Pinski's Treasure. Among his books are:Other Spaces: New Writing and the RSC;The Story of Unity Theatre; Peggy: the Life of Margaret Ramsay, Play Agent (first winner of the Theatre Book Prize); Inside the Royal Shakespeare Company; Here We Stand: Politics, Performers and Performance – Paul Robeson, Isadora Duncan and Charlie Chaplin; and Black and Asian Theatre in Britain: A History. He edited The Continuum Companion to Twentieth Century Theatre and Peggy to her Playwrights: The Letters of Margaret Ramsay, and co-edited Granville Barker on Theatre.
Chambers, Colin [Author-contributor] and Nelson, Richard [Author-contributor] (2018) The life and works of H Granville Barker. Agnes Colander programme,
Chambers, Colin and Nelson, Richard (2017) A secret life. The Times Literary Supplement, pp. 15-16. ISSN (print) 0307-661X
Chambers, Colin (2016) The new radicals : Ibsen and the birth of political theatre. Chichester Festival Theatre programme,
Chambers, Colin (2015) A brief history of 'Waste'. National Theatre programme for Waste,
Chambers, Colin (2013) Robert Leeson obituary. Guardian, p. 59. ISSN (print) 0261-3077
Chambers, Colin (2011) Fringe theatre before the fringe. Studies in Theatre and Performance, 31(3), pp. 327-338. ISSN (print) 1468-2761
Chambers, Colin (2010) Sam Russell obituary. Guardian, p. 37. ISSN (print) 0261-3077
Chambers, Colin (2009) 'Ours will be a dynamic contribution': the struggle by diasporic artists for a voice in British theatre in the 1930s and 1940s. Key Words. a journal of cultural materialism(7), pp. 38-54. ISSN (print) 1369-9725
Chambers, Colin (2005) Vera Gottlieb : champion of Chekhov and all things theatrical. Guardian, p. 27. ISSN (print) 0261-3077
Chambers, Colin (2020) Peggy : the life of Margaret Ramsay, play agent. Glasgow, U.K. : Salamander Street. 380p. ISBN 9781913630164
Chambers, Colin [Editor] and Ramsay, Peggy (2018) Peggy to her playwrights: the letters of Margaret Ramsay, play agent. London, U.K. : Oberon Books. 360p. ISBN 9781786824295
Chambers, Colin [Adapter/Arranger] (2015) Treasure. London, U.K. : Oberon Books. 88p. (Oberon modern plays) ISBN 9781783199990
Chambers, Colin (2011) Black and Asian theatre in Britain: a history. London, U.K. : Routledge. 304p. ISBN 9780415375986
Chambers, Colin (2006) Here we stand: politics, performers and performance: Paul Robeson, Isadora Duncan and Charlie Chaplin. London, UK : Nick Hern Books. 236p. ISBN 1854599208
Chambers, Colin (2004) Inside the Royal Shakespeare Company: creativity and the institution. London, UK : Routledge. 262p. ISBN 0415212022
Tynan, Kenneth, Nelson, Richard [Adapter/Arranger] and Chambers, Colin [Adapter/Arranger] (2004) Tynan: based on the book The diaries of Kenneth Tynan. London, UK : Faber and Faber. 43p. ISBN 0571227295
Chambers, Colin, ed. (2002) The Continuum companion to twentieth century theatre. London, UK : Continuum. 866p. ISBN 082644959x
Gottlieb, Vera and Chambers, Colin, eds. (1999) Theatre in a cool climate. Oxford, UK : Amber Lane Press. 222p. ISBN 1872868266
Nelson, Richard and Chambers, Colin (1998) Kenneth's first play: a play for young audiences. London, U.K. : Methuen Drama. 64p. ISBN 041372980x
Chambers, Colin (1997) Peggy: the life of Margaret Ramsay, play agent. London : Nick Hern. 361p. ISBN 1854591193
Moliere, Jean-Baptiste, Waller, A.R. [Translator], Pimlott, Steven [Adapter/Arranger] and Chambers, Colin [Adapter/Arranger] (1996) The learned ladies. London, U.K. : Nick Hern Books. 76p. ISBN 1854593757
Nelson, Richard, Jones, David and Chambers, Colin [Editor] (1995) Making plays: the writer-director relationship in the theatre today. London, U.K. : Faber and Faber. 165p. ISBN 0571163548
Chambers, Colin (1989) The story of Unity Theatre. London, U.K. : Lawrence and Wishart. 446p. ISBN 0853155887
Chambers, Colin and Prior, Mike (1987) Playwrights' progress: patterns of post-war British drama. Oxford, U.K. : Amber Lane Press. 208p. ISBN 0906399815
Chambers, Colin (1980) Other spaces: new theatre and the RSC. London, U.K. : Eyre Methuen. 88p. (Methuen Theatrefile) ISBN 0904844322
Chambers, Colin [Author-contributor] (1980) Theatre London. London, U.K. : London Transport. 200p. ISBN 0853291071
Nelson, Richard and Chambers, Colin (2022) Postscript : Helen and Harley : translating together. In: Nelson, Richard and Chambers, Colin, (eds.) María Martínez Sierra : a great playwright hidden in plain sight : three plays from Spanish theatre's Silver Age. London, U.K. : Bloomsbury Publishing. (Methuen Drama) ISBN 9781350300194
Chambers, Colin (2018) Harley Granville Barker : director extraordinary. In: Patteron, Michael, (ed.) The great European stage directors. London, U.K. : Methuen Drama. pp. 121-144. 4 ISBN 9781474254113
Chambers, Colin (2013) 'A Flute of Praise': Indian theatre in Britain in the early twentieth century. In: Nasta, Susheila, (ed.) India in Britain: South Asian networks and connections, 1858-1950. Basingstoke, U.K. : Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 149-163. ISBN 9780230392717
Chambers, Colin (2013) Mathura, Noel Cuthbert (known as Mustapha Matura) (1939-2019). In: Cannadine, David , Curthoys, Mark and May, Alex, (eds.) Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford, U.K. : Oxford University Press.
Chambers, Colin (2012) Images on stage – a historical survey of South Asians in British theatre before 1975. In: Ley, Graham and Dadswell, Sarah, (eds.) Critical Essays on British South Asian Theatre. Exeter, U.K. : University of Exeter Press. pp. 20-40. ISBN 9780859898355
Chambers, Colin (2011) Shakespeare for my time. In: Freeman, John, (ed.) The greatest shows on earth: world theatre from Peter Brook to the Sydney Olympics. Faringdon, Oxfordshire : Libri Publishing. pp. 17-33. ISBN 9781907471544
Chambers, Colin (2009) History in the driving seat: Unity Theatre and the embrace of the "real". In: Forsyth, Alison and Megson, Chris, (eds.) Get real : documentary theatre past and present. Basingstoke, U.K. : Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 38-54. (Performance Interventions) ISBN 9780230221154
Chambers, Colin (2004) Bolt, Robert Oxton [Bob] (1924-1995). In: Cannadine, David, (ed.) Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford, U.K. : Oxford University Press.
Chambers, Colin (2004) Developments in the profession of theatre, 1946–2000. In: Kershaw, Baz, (ed.) The Cambridge history of British theatre. Vol.3: Since 1895. Cambridge, UK : Cambridge University Press. pp. 377-396. ISBN 0521651328
Chambers, Colin (2004) Mercer, David Stuart (1928-1980). In: Cannadine, David, (ed.) Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford, U.K. : Oxford University Press.
Chambers, Colin and Steed, Maggie (2004) Playing on the front foot: actors and audience in British popular theatre, 1970-1990. In: Milling, Jane and Banham, Martin, (eds.) Extraordinary actors: essays on popular performers: studies in honour of Peter Thomson. Exeter, U.K. : University of Exeter Press. pp. 191-209. ISBN 0859897354
Chambers, Colin (2004) Ramsay [nee Venniker], Margaret Francesca [Peggy] (1908-1991). In: Cannadine, David, (ed.) Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford, U.K. : Oxford University Press.
Chambers, Colin (2001) 'Home sweet home': Stratford-Upon-Avon and the making of the Royal Shakespeare Company as a national institution. In: Cartmell, Deborah and Scott, Michael, (eds.) Talking Shakespeare: Shakespeare into the millennium. Basingstoke, U.K. : Palgrave. pp. 85-101. ISBN 0333777735
Chambers, Colin [Author-contributor] and Riggs, Thomas (1999) Introduction. In: UNSPECIFIED, (ed.) Contemporary dramatists. 6th ed. Detroit, U.S. : St. James. ISBN 155862371x
Chambers, Colin [Author-contributor] (1998) Introduction. In: Holman, Robert, (ed.) Bad Weather. London, U.K. : Nick Hern Books. pp. v-vii. ISBN 1854593242
Chambers, Colin [Author-contributor] (1997) Introduction. In: Nelson, Richard, (ed.) Goodnight children everywhere. London, U.K. : Faber & Faber. pp. vii-x. ISBN 0571194303
Chambers, Colin (1995) Unity theatre. In: Margolies, David and Joannou, Maroula, (eds.) Heart of the heartless world: essays in cultural resistance in memory of Margot Heinemann. London, U.K. : Pluto Press. ISBN 0745309828
Chambers, Colin (1980) Product into process: actor-based workshops. In: Craig, Sandy, (ed.) Dreams and deconstructions: alternative theatre in Britain. Ambergate, U.K. : Amber Lane Press. ISBN 090639919x
Chambers, Colin (2009) More than Music Hall : or, how the alternative is not so new. In: The East End seen through performance; 29 Jan 2009, London, U.K.. (Unpublished)
Chambers, Colin [Author-contributor] and Russell, Sam (2022) I saw democracy murdered : the memoir of Sam Russell, journalist. Abingdon, U.K. : Routledge. 284p.
Martínez Sierra, María, Granville-Barker, Helen [Translator], Granville-Barker, Harley [Translator], Chambers, Colin [Editor] and Nelson, Richard [Editor] (2022) María Martínez Sierra : a great playwright hidden in plain sight : three plays from Spanish theatre's Silver Age. London : Bloomsbury Publishing. 248p. (Methuen Drama) ISBN 9781350300194
Barker, Granville, Chambers, Colin [Editor] and Nelson, Richard [Editor] (2017) Granville Barker on theatre : selected essays. London, U.K. : Bloomsbury Methuen Drama. 266p. ISBN 9781474294843
Chambers, Colin (2017) Michel Saint-Denis. Encyclopedia of theatre and performance.
Chambers, Colin (2017) A concise introduction to Harley Granville Barker. DT+ Fundamentals.
Chambers, Colin (2017) A concise introduction to Peter Gill. DT+ Fundamentals.
Chambers, Colin (2017) A concise introduction to Theatre of Cruelty. DT+ Fundamentals.
Chambers, Colin (2017) A concise introduction to Theatre of the Absurd. DT+ Fundamentals.
Chambers, Colin (2012) A concise introduction to political theatre. DT+ Fundamentals.
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