Natasha Oxley

Dr Natasha Oxley FHEA, PGCert, DPhil, MA, PGDip, MA

Senior Lecturer in Drama

Dr Natasha Oxley is a Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader in Drama. Her specialisms including acting techniques, directing, theatre making, socially engaged practices, theatre for young audiences and contemporary Polish drama. Natasha is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and holds a PGCert in Teaching for HE from Rose Bruford College. Her doctorate (DPhil) in Contemporary Polish Playwriting is from the University of Oxford. She holds an MA in Actor Training and Coaching from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, a PGDip in Professional Acting from LAMDA (the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art), and an undergraduate MA (Hons) degree in Theatre Studies and Polish from the University of Glasgow. She completed the Royal Court Young Writers’ Programme with Simon Stephens. Natasha is the founder and director of Chiffchaff Children’s Theatre, which she set up with funding from Arts Council England. She has worked as a professional actor, director, theatre maker, theatre translator, and acting coach. Natasha teaches on a range of undergraduate Drama modules and supervises PhDs in Drama.

Drama

Responsibilities within the university
  • Programme Leader for BA (Hons) Drama and BA (Hons) Drama with International Studies.
  • Module Leader
  • PhD Supervisor
  • Lecturer

Awards
  • Waltham Forest Council, Arts Development Grant, Chiffchaff Children’s Theatre, London, 2016.
  • Arts Council England, Grant for the Arts, Chiffchaff Children’s Theatre, London, 2012.
  • Jagiellonian University Polish Research Centre in London, PON Research Grant towards DPhil project, 2012. * University of Oxford, Vice Chancellors’ Fund. Awarded for academic excellence. 2012.
  • CEELBAS, Full Award for full time DPhil, University of Oxford, 2008-2011.
  • AHRC, Full Award for full time MA, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, 2005-2006.

Recognition

Full Member of Equity.

Member of the Memory Studies Association and of Assitej International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People, TYA Research Network.

Research / Scholarly interests

My book Polish Playwriting: New Narratives from 2004 to 2014 went to production in 2026 for publication by Berghahn Books in 2027. It is focused on key themes and techniques in new playwriting during Poland’s first decade in the EU. The topic of Poland’s past in the present is analysed through aspects of memory studies theory; the human body is discussed in relation to phenomenology; social marginalisation is investigated with a focus on ‘the other’; dramatic techniques are analysed in relation to Lehmann’s postdramatic theatre. Further research includes Polish playwriting since 2014, and research and development on directing performances Polish plays in translation. In applied drama, recent research included a staff-student collaboration project on student drama in a community group for people with dementia, and conference presentations focused on making theatre from memory boxes using reminiscence theatre techniques. Research on theatre for young audiences includes conference presentations on children as co-creators with Chiffchaff Children’s Theatre, and practice research to define a teachable Chiffchaff methodology. Continuous pedagogical research includes the development of a toolkit of acting techniques for university Drama students and the application of actor training and coaching methods in HE Drama, including text analysis and practical approaches to performance.

Key funded projects

  • Staff-student Collaboration Fund, University of Greenwich, 2023.
  • Student drama in a community group for people with dementia and their partners. Research grant: defining the Chiffchaff Children’s Theatre methodology in order to teach it to students of Theatre and Young Audiences. University of Greenwich, 2017
  • Waltham Forest Council, Arts Development Grant, Chiffchaff Children's Theatre, Banana! and Whatever Next!, 2016
  • Wolfson College, University of Oxford, Travel Grant for fieldwork on theatre productions in Poland, 2015
  • Arts Council England, Grant for the Arts, Chiffchaff Children's Theatre, Peace At Last, London, 2012
  • Jagiellonian University Polish Research Centre in London, PON Research Grant towards DPhil project, 2012
  • University of Oxford, Vice Chancellors' Fund, 2012
  • CEELBAS, Full Award for full time DPhil, University of Oxford, 2008-2011
  • AHRC, Full Award for full time MA, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, 2005-2006
  • Polish Government Postgraduate Scholarship, for independent research into Polish acting and theatre, based at PWST theatre academy, Warsaw, 2000-2001

Media activity
  • Oxley, N. Peace at Last and Whatever Next!, by Chiffchaff Children’s Theatre, adapted from the Jill Murphy books, digital version. Writer, director, actor, for Greenwich Children’s Theatre Festival, Greenwich Theatre, online, July-September 2020.
  • Oxley, N. Peace at Last and Whatever Next!, by Chiffchaff Children’s Theatre, adapted from the Jill Murphy books. Writer, director, actor. Greenwich Theatre Studio February 2020; Bathway Theatre, University of Greenwich, June 2019; King William building, University of Greenwich, as part of the Greenwich Book Fest, June 2019.
  • Oxley, N. On the Way Home, by Chiffchaff Children’s Theatre, adapted from the Jill Murphy books. Writer, director, actor. Tour of all children’s libraries in Newham as part of the Summer Reading Challenge, Newham Council, London, August 2018.
  • Oxley, N. Peace at Last and Whatever Next!, by Chiffchaff Children’s Theatre, adapted from the Jill Murphy books. Director for performance by University of Greenwich BA Drama students. Tour of all children’s libraries in Newham as part of the Summer Reading Challenge, Newham Council, London, 2017.

Recent publications