Museum theatre

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Museum theatre is the use of theatre and theatrical techniques by a museum for educational and informative purposes. It can also be used in a zoo, an aquarium, an art gallery, and at historic sites. It is generally performed by professional actors, although sometimes volunteers perform. Varieties of museum theatre include first-person interpretation, third-person interpretation, and historical reenactment.^[1]

In "First-person interpretation" a museum guide or other interpreter plays the role of the person he or she is interpreting. In such a role, the interpreter acts as if he were an actual person from the era or culture he is representing. This role is often difficult, not only because it requires the interpreter to speak and behave as if he were the character being portrayed (in character), but also because many museum-goers are not used to the first-person interpretation, being more familiar with museum guides acting as third person interpretors.

In "third-person interpretation" a museum guide or another interpreter acts as a contemporary person looking into the past. Such guides do not attempt to assume a role or guise as the individuals they describe, rather, they speak from a current perspective of people and events from the past. This is in sharp contrast to first-person interpretation, where guides take on the role of the persona they are portraying.

First person interpretation in North America was pioneered by the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village in Alberta, Canada.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] References

^ Caroline Hughes, Anthony Jackson, and Jenny Kidd (1998). "The Role of Theater in Museums and Historic Sites: Visitors, Audiences, and Learners", in Barry J. Fraser and Kenneth George Tobin: International handbook of science education. Springer, 679–696. ISBN 0387463003.

[edit] Further reading

Tessa Bridal (2004). Exploring Museum Theatre. Rowman Altamira. ISBN 0759104131.
Kathleen Brown (2002). "Educational and Other Public Programmes for Exhibitions — Museum Theatre", in Barry Lord and Gail Dexter Lord: The Manual of Museum Exhibitions. Rowman Altamira, 312. ISBN 0759102341.
Graham Farnelo (1992). "Drama on the galleries", in John Durant: Museums and the Public Understanding of Science. NMSI Trading Ltd, 49. ISBN 0901805491.