David Overend

David Overend is a researcher in interdisciplinary education, art and performance. He is currently working with Edinburgh Futures Institute as Programme Director of the MA(hons) Interdisciplinary Futures.

Books include Performance in the Field: Interdisciplinary practice-as-research (Palgrave Macmillan 2023), Making Routes: Journeys in performance 2010-2020, co-authored with Laura Bissell (Triarchy Press 2021), and an edited collection, Rob Drummond: Plays with participation (Bloomsbury Methuen Drama, 2021). As a director, David has worked for the National Theatre of Great Britain and has toured internationally with award-winning productions. 

My research focusses on interdisciplinary education, art and performance. I am interested in the different ways in which collaboration and creativity take place and move through space. Drawing on my training and practice as a director, I use creative methods to work with teams of artists and researchers at a variety of field sites. Previous projects have explored the 'postdigital city' and visited a river, a museum, a nightclub, a motorway and a cave.

Interdisciplinary education: I am interested in the experience of students in the interdisciplinary classroom and how challenge-based courses and programmes are designed and delivered. I was recently Principal Investigator for Crossing the Line: Developing an interdisciplinary toolkit for higher education. This project led to the Toolkit for Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching (TILT) - an online resource for learners and educators working across disciplinary lines. Funded by the University of Edinburgh’s Principal’s Teaching Award Scheme.

Interdisciplinary art and performance: My research takes place in the field and often employs creative methods to understand and respond to specific sites. Since 2010, I have collaborated with Laura Bissell as Making Routes, an artistic research project exploring creative mobilities. More recently, we have researched entangled ecologies and have often worked with scientists, geographers and artists at conservation sites and rewilding projects. This research has been funded by Creative Scotland, South Ayrshire Council, the Carnegie Trust and the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

I also research twenty-first century Scottish theatre, with a particular interest in new writing. In 2023-24 I collaborated with performance artist Karen Christopher to create a series of Entanglements. As a director, I have often collaborated with the Scottish playwright-performer, Rob Drummond. Our theatre has usually involved audience participation, ranging from the use of a volunteer assistant in our magic show, Bullet Catch (the Arches, 2012), to the audience votes of The Majority (National Theatre, 2017). This work has been funded by Edinburgh Futures Institute, Creative Scotland and the numerous theatres and festivals that have programmed our work.

Toolkit for Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching (TILT)

News, events and research at my personal website: davidoverend.net

Creative journeys: makingroutes.org

100 circles blog project

Waterways Collective: waterwayscollective.org