Matthew Spangler

Dr. Matthew Spangler is a visiting professor at MMU from San Jose State University.

Dr. Matthew Spangler is Professor of Performance Studies and Chair of the Department of Film, Theatre, and Dance at San José State University in California. His research examines the representation of refugees and asylum-seekers through the literary and performing arts. His publications on this topic have appeared in many academic journals, including The James Joyce Quarterly, Text and Performance Quarterly, Theatre Journal, and The New Hibernia Review. He has edited two books on the topic of theatre and immigration: The Playboy of the Western World – A New Version (Syracuse University Press, 2024) and Staging Intercultural Ireland (Cork University Press, 2014).

Matthew is also an award-winning playwright. His plays have been produced in London’s West End, on Broadway, off-Broadway, at the Dublin Theatre Festival, Avignon Theatre Festival, Tunisia’s Theatre Days Festival, Dubai Opera House, and at many theatres around the world. Plays include: The Kite Runner from the novel by Khaled Hosseini, The Beekeeper of Aleppo from the novel by Christy Lefteri, Cowboys and East Indians from short stories by Nina McConigley, The Tortilla Curtain from the novel by T.C. Boyle, Albatross, Operation Ajax, Striking Back, The Forgotten Empress, and The Story of Zahra from the novel by Hanan al-Shaykh. His plays have been published by Bloomsbury, Penguin, Dramatic Publishing, and Stage Rights. 

The Beekeeper of Aleppo will be on a UK and Irish tour from February to July of 2026. Cowboys and East Indians will be produced by the Denver Center for Performing Arts from January to March of 2026.

He is currently working on two new theatre projects: an adaptation of Rabindranath Tagore’s The Kingdom of Cards with Sukanya Chakrabarti, and a play about the Afghan National Cricket Team with Salar Nader. 

For more on Matthew’s scholarship and playwriting, visit the link below!