Patrick is interested in why we (still) make theatre and performance: what is it for, what does it do culturally, politically, socially, aesthetically? Within this overarching frame, his research interests lie in critical approaches to contemporary performance and the relationship between performance and the wider isocio-cultural and political contexts in which it is made. He is nterested to look not only at contemporary aesthetic practice, but also at events in everyday life that we might analyse as and frame through performance. As such, his research might engage with a protest or a carnival parade, a politician’s speech or an installation hanging of a painting, a theatre play or the representation of a particular event in news-media.

His research is engaged with poststructuralist and political philosophy, is determinedly interdisciplinary in nature and particularly focused on questions of performance in situations of social crisis, spectatorship, witnessing, and trauma and ethics. Within this frame, he explores the socio-political efficacy of theatre, performance and other cultural practices.

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• Towards ‘strategy as performance’ in hazard mitigation: reflections on Performing City Resilience in New Orleans , Andrews, S., Duggan, P. Jan 2021, In: Research in Drama Education: Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance
• Rethinking Tourism : On the politics and practices of ‘staging’ New Orleans, Duggan, P. 2019, In: Performance Research
• Staging the Wreckage: Special issue of Performance Research, Duggan, P., Bouchard, G. 4 Jul 2019
• Situation Rooms: Performing City Resilience in New Orleans, Andrews, S., Duggan, P. 20 Apr 2019, In: Liminalities: a journal of performance studies
• Unsettling the Audience: Affective 'dis-ease' and the Politics of Fear and Anxiety in Contemporary Performance, Duggan, P. 30 Dec 2017, In: Key Words: A Journal of Cultural Materialism
• On the Radical Political Potential of Performance: Witnessing, Implication, and Ethics in Representations of the Northern Irish Dirty Protests and Hunger Strikes (1976–81), Duggan, P. 2 Oct 2017, In: Contemporary Theatre Review
• Performing (for) Survival: Theatre, Crisis, Extremity, Duggan, P., Peschel, L. 6 Jan 2016
• Trauma-Tragedy: Symptoms of contemporary performance, Duggan, P. 1 Sep 2012

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• Invited talk: Enhancing creative practices of emergency planning 2023
• Invited talk: Sinking Cities: Performances of Place and Practices of Tourism 2023
• Editorial work: Liminalities: a journal of performance studies (Journal) 2022
• Invited talk: Carnival Bodies and the Politics of Contagion 2022
• Invited talk: Resisting Catastrophe 2022
• Invited talk: Not so soft after all: Rethinking the ‘value’ of arts, humanities and cultural education 2021
• Invited talk: Politics of Fear in Contemporary British Cultures 2019
• Other: International Expert for FWO (Research Foundation - Flanders) 2018
• Invited talk: Processes and Practices for Performing City Resilience in a “Healthy City” 2018
• Membership of board: Theatre and Performance Research Association (External organisation) 2018

• Frances Guy Here You Are: examining the uses and impacts of contemporary participatory art commissions in heritagescapes Start Date: 11/04/2024
• Leila Nashef Enacting Trauma: a creative and critical exploration of the ethical implications of staging the traumatic Start Date: 01/10/2021
• Bryony Taylor Manifestations of Systemic Trauma in Contemporary British Theatre Start Date: 01/06/2020

Arts (general) PhD August 31 2009

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• Performing City Resilience (PCR) is a research project co-directed by Dr Patrick Duggan and Dr Stuart Andrews. Drawing on 20+ years of international research, facilitation and project management, we work stakeholders in given urban contexts to understand how concepts, strategies and practices of ‘performance’ can contribute to and reconfigure ideas and practices of ‘resilience’ in organisational, community, and city contexts. While there has recently been significant international interest in questions of city and community resilience, and the development of corresponding resilience strategies, there has been no substantial engagement with the usefulness of performance practices to understandings, strategic policies and practices of resilience, especially emergency preparedness. Performing City Resilience has begun to fill that gap in thinking, with profound impact on organisational development, city-wide strategic planning and policy, and funding priorities. The website details the work more broadly and the 'News' pages provide regular updates from research trips and field work.
• I am PI on the AHRC/UKRI Funded project: Social Distancing and Reimagining City Life: Performative strategies and practices for response and recovery in and beyond lockdown