Associate Professor, Theatre Theory and Criticism
Fields of Interest
Biography
Full CV (215.8 KB)Ph. D. Northwestern University
M.A. Central European University, Hungary
B.A./M.A. Sofia University, Bulgaria
Stefka Mihaylova is Associate Professor of Theatre History and Performance Theory. Her book, Viewers in Distress: Race, Gender, Religion and Avant-Garde Performance at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century, was published by the University of Michigan Press in July 2023. She is the coeditor of Uncle Tom’s Cabins: The Transnational History of America’s Most Mutable Book (2018). Her research has appeared in Theatre Survey, NTQ, Contemporary Theatre Review, and book collections. She has worked as a production and literary dramaturge.
Research & Creative Work
Representative Research
- Viewers in Distress: Race, Gender, Religion, and Avant-Garde Performance at the Turn of the 21stCentury
- Stefka Mihaylova, "Liveness Redux: Radical Performance, Television, and the Truthfulness of Illusion in Bloody Mess by Forced Entertainment," Contemporary Theatre Review 30.3 (2020): 340-356.
- “Raising Proper Citizens: Uncle Tom’s Cabin and the Sentimental Education of Bulgarian Children during the Soviet Era.” In Uncle Tom’s Cabins: The Transnational History of America’s Most Mutable Book, edited by Tracy C. Davis and Stefka Mihaylova. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 2018. 314-42
- Tracy C. Davis and Stefka Mihaylova, eds. Uncle Tom's Cabins: The Transnational History of America's Most Mutable Book. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 2018.
- “The Radical Formalism of Suzan-Lori Parks and Sarah Kane,” Theatre Survey 56.2 (May 2015): 213-31
- Stefka Mihaylova. Review of Reading Modern Drama. Theatre Journal, 2013.
- Stefka Mihaylova. Review of Endgame, by Samuel Beckett, directed by Frank Gallati, Steppenwolf Theatre, Chicago. Journal of Beckett Studies, 2011.
- Stefka Mihaylova. “Whose Performance Is It, Anyway? Performed Criticism as a Feminist Strategy.” New Theatre Quarterly, 2009.
- Stefka Mihaylova. Review of Theatre of Estrangement: Theatre, Practice, Ideology, by Silvija Jestrovic. Contemporary Theatre Review, 2008.
- Stefka Mihaylova. “Reading Corneille with Brecht: The Comedy of Illusion and the Illusions of Citizenship.” The Theatre of Tony Kushner: New Essays on the Art and Politics of the Plays. Ed. by James Fisher, 2006.
Representative Conferences
- “Forest, Orchards, and Fallow Fields: Chekhov’s Moral Philosophy,” invited talk, Chekhov in the 21stCentury: A Symposium, Theatre Department, Lewis and Clark College, June 28, 2018
- “British Sikh Flaneurs: How the Failure of Multiculturalism Produces a Contemporary Avant-Garde,” plenary, ASTR, Portland, 2015.
- “Forced Entertainment’s Live Simulacrum: Automata, Liveness, and the Human Actor’s Virtuosity,” plenary, ASTR, Baltimore, 2014
- "The Behzti Riot: Revising the Narrative of Post-Wold War II Radical Theatre in Biew of Non-Leftist Performance," Mid-America Theatre Conference 2014, History Symposium #13.
- “Casting Stare-able Bodies: Mabou Mines’ Dollhouse,” American Society for Theatre Research, Atlanta, 2017
Research Advised: Graduate Dissertations
- Zimmerman, Shadow. Mediating Black Modernisms: Charles S Johnson and His Circle, Printing Opportunity and Performing the New Negro. 2022. University of Washington, PhD dissertation.
- Li, Weiyu. The Black is the New Red: Performances of Racial Blackness in the Maoist China. 2022. University of Washington, PhD dissertation.
- Seifert, Kristin. Brecht between Mediums: Reevaluating Epic Theory in Theatre and Film. 2019. University of Washington, PhD dissertation.
- Karlidag, Bahar. Workers' Theatre Movement conventions as shaping/informing conditions in the theatrical collaboration of Joan Littlewood and Ewan MacColl and beyond: in Littlewood's success. 2017. University of Washington, PhD dissertation.
Courses Taught
Winter 2024
Winter 2023
Autumn 2022
Spring 2021
Spring 2020
Winter 2020
Spring 2019
Winter 2019
Spring 2018
Winter 2018
Autumn 2016
Spring 2016
Winter 2016
Autumn 2015
Spring 2015
Winter 2015
Spring 2014
Autumn 2013
Winter 2013
Autumn 2012
Spring 2012
Affiliations
Professional Affiliations:
American Society for Theatre Research (ASTR); International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR); Mid-America Theatre Conference (MATC)
News & Press
Related News
- UW Drama Shines at the American Society for Theatre Research Conference - December 11, 2023
- BA Jarrett Johnson and faculty members Odai Johnson and Stefka Mihaylova featured in Seattle Times piece about young theatre artists in the pandemic - February 25, 2021
- Performance Studies Research Group Lecture - January 19, 2016
- Performance Studies Research Group Fosters Cross-disciplinary Conversations - May 7, 2015
- UW Rocks ASTR - January 14, 2014
Related Events
- Coffee and Concepts: Savage Conversations - January 24, 2020 - 2:00pm to 4:00pm
- Coffee & Concepts: Meditations on Captive Performances of Denmark’s Colonial Children circa 1905 - May 7, 2021 - 2:00pm to 4:00pm
- Online - Coffee & Concepts: Outrageous American Home Truths/Blackness and the Musical Stage - April 30, 2021 - 2:00pm to 4:00pm
- Online - Coffee and Concepts: Is Euripides Dead? - January 15, 2021 - 2:00pm to 4:00pm
- Online - Coffee and Concepts: Representing Actors/Defining Acting - November 20, 2020 - 2:00pm to 4:00pm
- Coffee and Concepts: Theatre and Peace - January 31, 2020 - 2:00pm to 4:00pm
- Coffee and Concepts: Avant-Garde Geographies - November 22, 2019 - 2:00pm to 4:00pm
- Coffee and Concepts: The Face of God - October 18, 2019 - 2:00pm to 4:00pm
- Coffee and Concepts: Truth, Storytelling, and the Ethics of Dramatic Editing - April 26, 2019 - 2:00pm to 4:00pm
- Coffee and Concepts: Words and Images - April 19, 2019 - 2:00pm to 4:00pm
- Panel Discussion: The Life and Legacy of Maria Irene Fornes - December 2, 2018 - 3:30pm
- Coffee and Concepts: Stefka Mihaylova - November 9, 2018 - 2:00pm to 4:00pm
- Coffee + Concepts: Adair Rounthwaite - November 2, 2018 - 2:00pm to 4:00pm
- Coffee and Concepts: Ellwood Wiggins - October 26, 2018 - 2:00pm to 4:00pm
- Coffee and Concepts: Ralina Joseph - October 19, 2018 - 2:00pm to 4:00pm
- Coffee & Concepts: Tony Lucero - October 12, 2018 - 2:00pm to 4:00pm
- LOBBY TALK - The World Turned Upside Down: Perestroika as Metaphor - April 29, 2018 - 1:00pm
- Why This Play Now? - May 7, 2017 - 1:00pm to 1:30pm
- Performing Arts Lectures: The Arts and Humanities in the STEM-Focused Academy - October 25, 2016 - 7:30pm
- Henry Bial: Jesus Christ, Broadway Star - May 20, 2016 - 4:00pm
- “A Racist Love Note: Stereotypes and Caricatures in early 20th Century Valentine’s Day Cards.” - January 22, 2016 - 5:00pm
- Theatre and Non-leftist Radicalism - October 1, 2013 - 7:30pm