Ithaca College

Chris Matusiak, Assistant Professor of English, has won the 2015 Barbara D. Palmer Award for his essay "Elizabeth Beeston, Sir Lewis Kirke, and the Cockpit's Management during the English Civil Wars."

The Palmer Award is given annually by the Medieval and Renaissance Drama Society to recognize the best new scholarly essay that makes extensive use of archival material related to the production, composition, staging, printing, or regulation of early drama.  Matusiak's article appeared in 2014, in the prestigious journal Medieval and Renaissance Drama in England.

His essay on Elizabeth Beeston and Sir Lewis Kirke constitutes a serious and sustained challenge to dominant narratives of theater history in England during the Interregnum (1642-1660).  These narratives have long held that, following the closing of the public theaters by Parliament in 1642, London theatrical culture effectively became dormant until the return of Charles II.  Matusiak, however, drawing upon his own archival discoveries, argues not only that plays were performed during this time, but that the theaters themselves may be legible to us as sites of self-consciously political resistance.

This is not the first time Matusiak has won an award for his research.  His 2008 article "Christopher Beeston and the Caroline Office of Theatrical Governor," which was published in the journal Early Theatre, was given an Honorable Mention in the "best theater history essay" category.

Matusiak is currently at work on a piece about archival material related to William Shakespeare's biography, and is composing (online and in print) a new edition of Robert Greene's play Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay (1594).

Chris Matusiak joined the Department of English in August of 2010, and teaches the Department's Shakespeare survey course as well as advanced courses and seminars in Renaissance literature.  He also teaches in the Ithaca Seminar and Exploratory programs.