Research
My research examines intelligence through the lens of performance, with a particular focus on how secrecy, deception, identity and institutional authority are constructed and communicated.
Drawing on intelligence history, performance studies and archival research, I explore the ways intelligence organisations borrow from theatrical practice — and how the secret state presents itself to practitioners, policymakers and the public.
My current work extends this research into the public performance of British intelligence and the relationship between secrecy, legitimacy and national identity.
Selected Papers & Presentations
“Breaking the Fourth Wall: Participatory Surveillance and the Transformation of Intelligence Practice”
Intelligence, Insecurity & the International, Swedish Defence University · 2026
Invited workshop developing a special issue on Intelligence and International Relations. Upcoming
“Beaulieu, Bletchley and Baker Street: Creativity, Humour and Performance within British Intelligence Services during the Second World War”
International Studies Association, Columbus · 2026
Presented on the panel Intelligence Between Culture and Strategy.
“Crowd-Sourced Surveillance and Public Intelligence Performance in the Global South: Case Studies from the Philippines and Nigeria”
Center for Political Practices and Orders, University of Erfurt, Germany · 2025
“Surveillance, Public Performance, and the New Intelligence Practitioners: Expanding the Boundaries of Intelligence Studies”
Research Centre in International Relations, King’s College London · 2025
“Improvisation and Play within Intelligence Practice”
International Studies Association, Chicago · 2025
Presented on the panel Intelligence in a Complex World.
“Adapting Espionage: How Intelligence History Is Constructed for Stage and Screen”
Society for Intelligence History, Washington, DC · 2025
Presented on the panel Culture in Intelligence History.
“Post-Death Performance and the Case of Operation Mincemeat”
(Inter)Disciplinary Bodies, Uxbridge · 2024
Presented on the panel Bodies & War.
“Constructing a Character: Entertainment, Social Media and the Public Performances of Intelligence Agencies”
International Studies Association, San Francisco · 2024
Presented on the panel Public Images of Intelligence Agencies.
John le Carré, Performance and Espionage
King’s Centre for the Study of Intelligence, London · 2023
Invited speaker at A Delicate Truth: John le Carré, Spy Fiction & Intelligence.
“Theatre, Performance, and SOE: Setting the Stage”
Society for Intelligence History · 2023
Invited online Brown Bag talk.
“Undercover Performances: Audience Participation in Intelligence’s ‘Theatre of the Real’”
International Studies Association, Montreal · 2023
Presented on the panel Inspired Impressions: The Creative Underpinnings of the Intelligence Community.
“Performance as Tradecraft: The Inclusion of the Arts and Theatrical Practice in Approaches to Intelligence Studies”
International Studies Association, Online · 2022
Presented on the panel Diversity, Inclusion and Western Intelligence Services.