Matthew’s research compares American and Irish online drama and creative fiction. In particular, Matthew examines the extent to which early and mid-Twentieth Century academic theory applies to online narrative works. Prior to starting his PhD, Matthew received an MA (First Class Honours) in Drama and Performance Studies and a BA (International) in History and Spanish from University College Dublin. In addition, Matthew's filmmaking work has been featured on the NBC/ABC affiliate WBOY-TV in West Virginia, in the U.S.A.  

Having also studied Spanish theatre and poetry during his Undergrad, Matthew holds an interest in how academic ideas surrounding theatre resonate in mediatised performance within and outside Ireland. His paper for the 2025 Irish Society for Theatre Research conference examines the 2020 streamed production of the musical Hamilton. Matthew analyses this screened performance through the lens of early Twentieth Century drama theorist Vsevolod Meyerhold, whose writings on theatre and cinema resonate strongly today.

My paper will examine the Disney+ streamed performance of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton. In particular, I will explore how the end of empire is emphasised through the production’s use of screen technology. I propose to analyse this project using writings by Russian drama theorist Vsevolod Meyerhold. As early as the 1920s, Meyerhold argued that theatre could incorporate cinematic techniques for thematic effect. A century later, 2020’s Hamilton used cameras and editing software to visually emphasise its racial and class themes through framing and dynamic editing- a feat impossible to replicate in staged theatre. As a musical contrasting America’s postcolonial ideals with the nation’s current economic and racial inequalities, the streamed Hamilton offers unique opportunities to apply early Twentieth Century dramatic theory to mediatised performance.  

Ideas by writers like Meyerhold have rarely been explored in the context of streamed performance, indicating a fresh relevance for Twentieth Century theorists’ ideas in contemporary theatre studies. My study is highly interdisciplinary, setting up European theatre theory against the backdrop of the digital humanities, liveness and theatrical depictions of colonialism. I will explore the extent to which the screened Hamilton’s combination of theatre with cinema emphasises the original staged show’s themes of liberty, equality and fraternity. Specifically, I will explore how the Disney+ performance uses camera framing, editing and sound design to highlight scenes emphasising America’s historic struggle against colonialism. Overall, my paper will examine how traditional depictions of America’s freedom from empire are challenged by this performance. This challenge is reflected in the project’s questioning of conventional notions of film and theatre, and in its casting of black actors as white historical figures.