Who are we?
We are a research unit created, in 1994, by university professor and theatre director, Osório Mateus to be a privileged stage for research into theatre studies and the training of researchers in the same field. We are based at the School of Arts and Humanities of the Lisbon University (FLUL), to which several of our members belong, whilst also including researchers and collaborators from other universities and schools in the country, PhD students, post-doctoral researchers and theatre professionals. Since early 2020, we have had 47 researchers with a PhD and 19 without.
Historical and sociological research, together with the collection and setting of materials, which allow the study not only of Portuguese theatre, but of theatre produced and presented in Portugal, have been the Centre for Theatre Studies’ favoured fields. Our work to date has taken full advantage of new technologies to make documents more readily available to a wider audience that make it possible to tell the story of theatre in Portugal. On this same page, digital resources born out of the research developed over twenty years can be found, and whose diversity mirrors the variety of approaches to the theatre.
We also extended our interests to the production of critical discourse about contemporary performing arts and about practice as research, reinforcing our connection with the artistic community and our participation in international networks.
The study of the relationship between theatre and image, in course since CET was founded, has gained its own dynamic, evident in the Centre’s results.
We produce a Journal – Sinais de Cena – with an international scope that combines an academic aspect, where results of ongoing research are presented, with a critical overview of the current state of performance and publishing.
For more information on the Sinais de Cena Journal, click here.
For more than two decades, CET has been involved in the development of Artistic Studies at FLUL through its researchers teaching curricular units in the Performing Arts’ degree. CET actually starts trainees off on their own research during this degree. Some of these then continue their training or take part in CET projects as grant holders.
CET also collaborates with the Programme in Theatre Studies through running seminars and welcoming students to ongoing projects.
Open courses, residences and workshops are other ways of extending initial training or introducing cutting edge research areas in the performing arts.
What we do?
CET researches different aspects of the theatre, as well as performance and images that can be related to it. Some of the Centre’s work is done in teams and some individually, such as PhD and post-doctoral projects. We, therefore, welcome visitors who are in tune with our research and want to work with us.
Research is linked to numerous scientific activities promoted by researchers, often in conjunction with other academic institutions or artistic organisations. The aim is thus to create a network that sustains and participates in the various projects in progress, while giving back to the enlarged community the results of its work through scientific meetings, publications, workshops, cultural events and the recently redesigned page with its open access digital resources.
One of the means of disseminating knowledge and internationalizing research that CET wants to reinforce in the near future is its Journal, Sinais de Cena. A second series started in 2016. All series of the journal are fully available at https://revistas.rcaap.pt/sdc/issue/archive.
CET has maintained its own editorial practice regarding previously unpublished texts and fundamental studies for the history and criticism of theatre produced in Portugal, seeking to compensate for the reduced appetite of commercial and state publishers for this area. On this page, there is a showcase with all of our publications that can be purchased at CET or consulted in libraries.
At CET, beginning research is an activity taken seriously. From FLUL degree students in Performing Arts to Master’s and PhD students in Theatre Studies, we have been creating a generation of young researchers in this field of studies, each increasingly hybridized by the objects studied and the knowledge invoked, but with an internationally renowned background in the academic world. We are proud to be part of this worldwide network of theatre and performance scholars where our work is recognized.
