Jonathan Powell

Jonathan is a PhD candidate in the English department at King’s, examining localised engagements with early-seventeenth-century common law by theatre practitioners across Jacobean Britain. To do so, his work employs a jurisdictional framework for linguistic and spatial analysis, interested in institutional idiosyncrasies shaping the production of dramatic text, and in varying and variant sites and spaces for (and of) legal and literary performance. His likes includes old plea-rolls, travelling players, legal barragoüin, and performance contracts. Jonathan has been working as the administrator for the Centre for Early Modern Studies (CEMS) over the past twelve months, and is delighted to have added the Centre for Enlightenment Studies (CESK) to his remit for the coming year: a cross-period pairing which reflects his own interest in jurisdictional practices – as subject and method – across time.

Prior to commencement of the PhD, Jonathan’s experiences include three happy years at Dalston’s innovative, socially engaged Arcola Theatre and the same again as a touring musician. He has also collaborated on, and translated work for, exhibitions and installations at galleries in Leipzig, Rostock, London and Berlin.

Jonathan holds a BA in English Literature (University College London) and an MA Shakespeare in History (University College London).