John Lutterbie, Founder

John Lutterbie Founded INCTP in 2019 after convening a number of working groups and sessions at both the American Society for Theatre Research (ASTR) and the Association for theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) and seeing a need for this particular subfield to have an organization that supports the interdisciplinary work of cognition and performance. John gathered many of us together at the Myrifield Institute for Cognition and the Arts that summer and provided everyone an opportunity to share their research and collaborate on the goals, purpose, and opportunities that this organization might afford. John's leadership, talent for including and encouraging many voices, kindness, and sharp intellect was the driving force for INCTP's formation and growth and this organization will always remain in his debt.

John passed away in 2024 and is survived by his wife Sara, son Simon, daughter and son-in-law Julia and Brian Dillon, granddaughters Lily and Eliana, and mother Johanna, brothers Tom (wife Sandy) and Gary (wife Peggy), sister-in-law Lucy, and their children and grandchildren. He held an MFA in Directing from the University of Texas at Austin and a PhD in Theatre History and Criticism from the University of Washington in Seattle. His book, Toward a General Theory of Acting: Cognitive Science and Performance (Palgrave-Macmillan 2011), applies research in cognitive science to the art of the actor. He was developing a theory of time-based aesthetics and exploring the function of art as an instrument of change in everyday life. He served as Associate Director of the Humanities Institute at Stony Brook and was the founder and co-director of the International Network for Cognition, Theatre, and Performance. His publications include Hearing Voices: Modern Drama and the Problem of Subjectivity (University of Michigan Press 1997), chapters in Performance and Cognition: Theatre Studies and the Cognitive Turn (Palgrave-Macmillan), Affective Performance and Cognitive Science: body, brain and being (Methuen), The Routledge Companion to Michael Chekhov, and essays in Theatre Journal, The Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism, Performance Research, The Journal of Psychiatry and the Humanities, and Modern Drama.