🧾 About Me

Hi! I’m a theatre researcher, producer, and reviewer based in London. My academic and creative work explores the intersections of performance, identity, transnational theatre-making, and cultural industry. I completed my PhD in Drama at the University of Exeter and currently contribute as a reviewer to The Reviews Hub while developing my own production projects in the UK. I also work full-time as Executive & Fundraising Assistant at Fuel Theatre.

In both my research and practice, I am dedicated to bridging theory with performance and committed to contributing to a more inclusive world where everyone can enjoy theatre.

📚 Academic Work & Research

🧪 Research Interests:

• Comedy and Identity
• Intercultural Theatre Practice
• Popular Entertainments
• Cultural Industry and Cultural Policy
• Relaxed Performance
• Gender Studies
• Practice-as-Research (PaR)

📝 Selected Publications & Presentations:

  **Publications**

• Yingnan Chu. 2027. Chinese Comedians in Britain - Comedy Performance, (Self)Identification and Controversies. Palgrave Macmillan.(forthcoming)
• Yingnan Chu. 2025. ‘Cultural Erasure in British Theatre Criticism: HOME X and Chinese Literary Heritage’. New Theatre Quarterly. (accepted)
• Yingnan Chu. 2025. ‘Reshaping Memories and Borders: An Overview of British Theatre 2024’. Drama-The Journal of The Central Academy of Drama. (in Chinese)
• Yingnan Chu. 2024. ‘Placing yourself in performance research: a phenomenological approach to stand-up comedy’. In Kim Baston and Jason Price (eds.), Researching Popular Entertainment. London: Routledge.
• Yingnan Chu. 2024. ‘Risk and Surprise: Stand-Up Comedy in a Relaxed Venue’. Comedy Studies, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/2040610X.2024.2352219.