John Fleming earned his M.A. and Ph. D in Theatre History from the University of Texas at Austin, studying under Oscar Brockett. After teaching for three years at Auburn University, John joined the faculty at Texas State University in 1999.

From 1999-2005, John served as Director of Graduate Studies, teaching the undergraduate theatre history sequence as well as graduate seminars in Dramatic Theory and Criticism, Contemporary World Theatre, and the Backgrounds of Modern Drama course. While continuing to serve as a theatre historian, in fall 2005, John assumed his new duties as chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance.

As a scholar, John has published extensively on contemporary theatre. His book Stoppard’s Theatre: Finding Order amid Chaos (2001) was nominated for an MLA Best First Book award, while his articles have appeared in journals such as TDR, Journal of American Drama and Theatre, Text and Performance Quarterly, and Latin American Theatre Review. His article “Views, Value, and Worship: Religion and Social Class in the plays of Romulus Linney” was published in Text and Presentation 2004. A former editor of Theatre Insight, John now serves on the editorial board of Texas Theatre Journal. He is currently writing a book entitled Romulus Linney: Maverick of the American Theatre.

John is also a playwright, with his plays having been produced in Texas, Alabama, and Kansas. His full-length plays include Transposing Shakespeare, The Two Lives of Napoleon Beazley (winner of the 2005 B. Iden Payne Award for Outstanding Original Script), The World Upside Down (an adaptation of Ludwig Tieck’s Die Verkehrte Welt), and Aristophanes’ Lysistrata: A Sports Adaptation. He has also written the one-act plays Lifeline and Three Point Perspective as well as the ten-minute plays To Dog Godot and Freudian Afternoon. His screenplays include Where Time Stands Still (Gold Award, Houston International Film Festival) and Midnight Sky.