Dr Jamie Harper

Jamie Harper is a UK-based theatre director, play designer and performance researcher. He studied English Literature at the University of Sheffield and trained on the Directors’ Course at LAMDA. He is a previous winner of the JMK Directors’ Award and the National Theatre Cohen Bursary for which he was Resident Director at the National Theatre Studio. His theatre credits include The Return of Colmcille for Derry’s UK City of Culture Festival; Invasion for Tooting Arts Club (Time Out Critics' Choice); Our Town at the Rose Theatre, Kingston; Beyond the Pale at Southwark Playhouse; A Real Humane Person Who Cares and All That at the Arcola; Invisible Storms at the Cock Tavern (Time Out Critics' Choice); The Six-Days World at The Finborough; The Things Good Men Do at the Lyric Hammersmith and A Lie of the Mind at BAC.

In 2013, he received a Winston Churchill Trust Travelling Fellowship to research the intersection of game design and drama at University of Miami. Following this project, he has focused on creating participatory performance works that incorporate play. Most recently he has focused on play projects related to ecological themes, including The Food Telescope (with Aslaug Ullerud) for the Oslo Architecture Triennale and Green Gold, a board-game commissioned by Fern, a Brussels-based pressure group advocating for forest restoration. He is an active member of the Nordic Larp (live action role-play) community and has presented larp works at festivals including Grenselandet in Oslo, Blackbox CPH in Copenhagen and Minsk Larp Festival in Belarus. He recently completed a practice-led PhD in participatory performance at Newcastle University.

Teaching interests

Jamie teaches a wide range of practical and theoretical approaches to drama, theatre and performance

Staff serving as external examiners

Jamie serves as external examiner for Acting and Theatre-making degree courses at the University of West London.

Research interests

Jamie's research focuses on participatory performance forms including live action role-play, interactive and immersive theatre, game design and socially engaged arts practices.

Other research

In addition to conducting academic research, Jamie has provided research consultancy, using playful methods to interrogate problems or uncover possible opportunities. He recently created a board game about climate change and land use for Fern, a Brussels-based environmental think-tank advocating for forest restoration. He is currently working with The Spring Arts and Heritage Centre in Hampshire on a Play Artist in Residence scheme, which explores the use of play in enhancing community engagement with the venue.

Grants & contracts

De Montfort University, Higher Education Innovation Fund

October 2021 – March 2022 (£7000)

A grant to support the development of educational resources using digital tools, promoting the resilience of primary school children.

University of Chester, Digital Research Grant

July – December 2020 (£1300)

A grant to support an investigation of the aesthetics of immersive performance in virtual spaces through a residency with the digital art collective THIS IS FAKE in Zeitz, Germany in September 2020.

Newcastle University, Education Innovation Fund

January – June 2019 (£2500)

A research grant to support the development of teaching materials employing play strategies to enhance student participation in practical performance modules on the BA (Hons) English Literature course.

Newcastle University, Iland Travel Award

August 2018 (£1000)

A travel grant to participate in Larpers of the World, a project focused on the use of live action role-play to promote civic participation with students in Belarus.

Creative practice & artistic projects