David Simes

David is a PhD Candidate in, and Teaching Assistant for Te Whare Ngangahau - Theatre and Performance Studies. He also works at Te Pātaka Kōrero as a Library Assistant (Collection Access). David's transdisciplinary research investigates the relationship between theatre and other forms of media, particularly comics. David has written on the temporal flexibility of comics, the adaptive qualities of playwright and actor Kate Mulvany, and on Sarah Kane's final play 4.48 Psychosis. David's PhD thesis, entitled "Exit the Frame: Embodying Spatiotemporality in Comics and Theatre" investigates the ways in comics and theatre share similar qualities of space and time, and how these are enacted through performative embodiment. Alongside Associate Professor Kirstine Moffat and Dr Aimee-Jane Anderson-O'Connor, David is the author of the yearly bibliographical assessment of Aotearoa New Zealand for Literature, Critique, and Empire Today (formally The Journal of Commonwealth Literature). In 2026, David became the Editorial Assistant for Australasian Drama Studies. David also has experience in directing, dramaturgy, production and stage management, and is a published poet and reviewer.