Dr. Josephine Machon is an Associate Professor and programme leader for MA Theatre Arts at Middlesex. She is a writer and practitioner in contemporary performance and a Fellow of The Higher Education Academy. Prior to joining Middlesex in 2012, she was a Lecturer in Theatre at Brunel University, having come from St. Mary's University College where she was responsible for setting up and leading the Physical Theatre Programme - the first undergraduate degree of its kind in the South East of England.

 

She is the author of Immersive Theatres: Intimacy and Immediacy in Contemporary Performance (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013), which received the prestigious award of Outstanding Academic Title in the CHOICE Awards, 2014 and (Syn)aesthetics – Redefining Visceral Performance (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009, 2011).

 

Josephine is Joint Editor of the Palgrave Macmillan Series, Palgrave Studies in Performance and Technology, which includes her co-edited collections alongside commissioned titles. She is on the Editorial Board for the International Journal of Performance Arts & Digital Media (IJPADM) and Brunel's Centre for Contemporary and Digital Performance online journal, Body, Space & Technology. Josephine's current practice-based research examines the role of the audience-participant in immersive experiences and involves partnerships with leading immersive practitioners Punchdrunk and Lundahl & Seitl. She is also collaborating on an interdisciplinary research project with Punchdrunk Enrichment examining the impact of its work in educational contexts.