Peter Davis (theater historian)

Peter A. Davis is a professor of theatre history at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, with specialties in early American theatre, Restoration theatre and Eighteenth Century cultural history. His research interests include the economic and social influences of theatre in addition to First Amendment and censorship issues related to live performance. His articles and reviews are found in the leading theatre journals, including, Theatre Survey, Theatre History Studies, Journal of American Drama and Theatre, Modern Drama, Theatre Research International, Restoration & 18th century Studies, Journal of American History and Theatre Journal. He was a major contributor to The Cambridge History of American Theatre (1999), winner of the Barnard Hewitt Award from the American Society for Theatre Research and the Special Jury Award of the Theatre Library Association. He also contributed major essays to The American Stage, Engle and Miller, eds. (Cambridge), The Cambridge Guide to American Theatre, Wilmeth, ed. and Inventing Times Square, William R. Taylor, ed. (Russell Sage Foundation). He was a 1988 recipient of an NEH research grant to study in effects of the Panic of 1873 on the American theatre industry.

He is the author of From Androboros to the First Amendment: A History of America's First Play (University of Iowa Press, 2015). Another book, The Stage in Crisis, on the economic history of the American stage in the Nineteenth Century is due out in 2017 published by Palgrave-Macmillan. He is also the author of the blog, "Eidophusikon: Today in Theatre History." Additionally, Professor Davis has delivered numerous academic papers at leading conferences and is a frequent and popular lecturer on American theatre history around the world, including recent presentations in Canada, England, Spain, Greece and The Netherlands.

In addition to his academic work, he is also an award-winning stage director, actor and dramaturg, having worked with a number of major theatre companies in San Francisco, Los Angeles and especially Chicago, including Remy Bumppo, Defiant, Strawdog, Writer’s Theatre, and Steppenwolf. In 2007, he acted in the original world-premiere production of August: Osage County at the Steppenwolf Theatre, performing the role of Bill on stage as Jeff Perry’s understudy. Awards include the 2006 revival of Gore Vidal’s The Best Man with Remy Bumppo (After Dark Award for Best Ensemble, Jeff Nomination for Best Ensemble) and The Philadelphia Story (2008 Jeff Nomination for Best Production), also with Remy Bumppo. He served as the resident dramaturg at Remy Bumppo Theatre Company from 2004 to 2008, and was the dramaturg for Sonia Flew at Steppenwolf in 2006 and for The Turn of the Screw at Writer’s Theatre in 2007.

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