Jen Parker-Starbuck

Papers

Total Citations

H-Index

About

Jen Parker-Starbuck is a leading scholar in the intersections of theatre, performance, and the nonhuman, with a particular focus on animal studies, cyborg theory, and posthumanism. Her work challenges anthropocentric assumptions in performance, arguing that theatre has always been entangled with nonhuman entities—from animals onstage to digital avatars and ecological forces. Her most-cited paper, "Editorial Comment: Theatre and the Nonhuman" (2019), frames the nonhuman as an urgent, pressing subject for contemporary performance studies, calling for a rethinking of theatrical practice beyond human-centered narratives. Though early in its citation trajectory, this editorial has already shaped conversations in the field, reflecting her broader impact. Parker-Starbuck is also widely recognized for her monograph *Cyborg Theatre: Corporeal/Technological Intersections in Multimedia Performance* (2011), which explores how bodies and technologies merge onstage, and for co-editing *Performance and the Nonhuman* (2016), a key text in the growing area of posthuman performance. Her work has been cited over 300 times, influencing scholars in theatre, performance studies, and environmental humanities. A professor at Royal Holloway, University of London, she continues to push boundaries, asking how performance can respond to the climate crisis and our multispecies world.