Theatre in Museums

Instead of linear narrative, dramatic and realistic style of performance, theatre-in-education project “The Hong Kong Plague of 1894” applied the concept of post-dramatic theatre, which started in 1970’s and is characterized by non-hierarchical use of various theatrical elements including both textual and non-textual components. The project was inspired by the history of plague outbreak in Hong Kong in 1894. Space, sound and visual metaphors were interwoven and became the major performance text of this project. The alternative theatre aesthetics changes the usual habits of spect-actors in various aspects including participation, association and interpretation, and thus sparks the discussion about application of post-dramatic theatre in theatre-in-education. This is a self-reflexive and self-thematized awakening process for the developments of both drama education and contemporary theatre.

Live interpretation offers unique ways to interact with visitors to AOAM. During the EU-funded OpenArch project (2011-2015), studies were made exploring the way visitors interact with the interpreters and interpretations. Results of these studies resulted in the presented article, among other products on www.openarch.eu.

This paper has been presented in the 2017 ICOM Costume Committee annual meeting, held in London College of Fashion, with the theme: "The Narrative Power of Clothes". It presents a dress from the island of Crete from the Benaki Museum collection, dating back to the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century and the different stories this dress could narrate. The first one related to the dress pattern and the style of its embroideries is the story of the Venetian occupation of the island of Crete and its impact on the local sartorial system. The second one refers to the common project of the Benaki Museum and the National Theatre of Greece entitled " From the Silence of the Display Case to Living Theatrical Voices " : One exhibit from each museum collection provides the spark for a theatrical performance. In this context the Cretan dress gives the opportunity to the National Theatre's actors to bring to life Erofili, the female character of the popular tragedy by Georgios Chortatsis (c. 1545 - c. 1610).

本文以研究者與楊逵文學紀念館的合作為例,探析一個應用劇場方案如何跨 越劇場、博物館與社區的邊界,在博物館使命、劇場實踐與社區脈絡所涵構的空 間中建立多樣的互動關係。工作坊課程、觀摩、排練與呈現提供了多層次的戲劇 經驗,社區的地方知識和凝聚力不僅有利計畫的推動,也啟發了課程設計。整體 而言,這個跨界的劇場方案,促成不同的機構、規訓和人們在關係中互相學習, 進行文化交換。

This paper shares the example of a cooperative research project of the researcher with The Memorial Museum of Yang Kui Literature, reflecting on how an applied theatre project crossed the borders mediating theatre, museum and community, and developed the pluralistic relationships in the spaces distributed among the museum mission, theatre practice and community context. The project provided the community members a wide range of drama experiences through workshops, demonstration, rehearsal and presentation, while their local knowledge and cohesion facilitated the project planning and execution. As a whole, this border-crossing project stimulated learning in relationships and led to cultural exchanges among different institutions, disciplines and people.

The Barbados Museum and Historical Society (BMHS) is seeking to attract a larger percentage of patrons from among the younger demographic, many of whom are technologically inclined. The intermedial performance approach was therefore recommended as a means of bridging the gap with this age group by allowing them to become 'experiencers' (Bay-Cheng, et al. 2010, 45) of history, rather than passive observers. In order to test this approach, a controlled experiment was set up with a group of 10 young people (ages 17-24) who were given a guided tour of the temporary technology-enhanced World War 1 (WW1) exhibit which was on loan to the BHMS by Alliance Français. They were then given the tour a second time, using an intermedial performance approach, after which they were asked to compare the two experiences. Their responses to the experiment were then analysed in context to immersion, with specific reference to intermedial performance and immersive theatre. This paper reflects on the results of the experiment while serving as an enquiry into the efficacy of technology as a means of enhancing the immersive museum theatre experience, with the aim of appealing to a younger demographic.

Museum theatre and its potential within museum education is explored at the Museum Education and Research Laboratory at the University of Thessaly, Greece. There, the leading research project Museums and Education: methods of approaching and interpreting museum objects'aims to address how, over the last few decades, museum theatre has been in ever-increasing use to vocalize the sensitive issues of a multicultural society and marginalized social communities. Recent studies highlight museum theatre evoking empathy and critical engagement in the audience with the subject-matter of the performance. One such performance was organized by the School of Drama at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and studied in depth. Titled Voices of the City: Historical Routes through Theatre, the performance embodied controversial social issues, and its implementation was evaluated using qualitative methodology to examine the responses of visitors.

In the framework of the research project “Museums and Education: methods of approaching and interpreting museums objects”, the Museum Education and Research Laboratory, University of Thessaly (Greece), is focusing on different methodologies applied in the context of museum interpretation and especially on museum theatre’s potential in museum education. Museum theatre has been used to give voice to marginalized social communities and to address sensitive issues that reflect the challenges of a multicultural society. Recent studies have highlighted its ability to promote empathy and critical engagement with the subject-issue of the performance. Preliminary research results have shown that, despite museum theatre’s ability to facilitate discussion on controversial issues, its use in Greek museums does not seem to take advantage of this potential so far. In addition, Greek museums are facing new challenges in an environment nowadays marked by a strong economic crisis, xenophobia and racism. Such social and often controversial issues were included in the contents of a walking performance titled “City Voices” organized by the School of Drama, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and therefore studied in depth.  The walking performance “City Voices” was addressing issues of multiculturalism trying to promote critical thinking in everyday life. Performance’s implementation was evaluated using qualitative methodology in order to examine visitors’ response. Research methods included participant observation, audience’s personal logs and semi- structured interviews with the project’s designers and performers. Paper focuses on the examination of the research results, especially on the issue and on the clarification of further emerging issues.

ABSTRACT The Barbados Museum & Historical Society (BMHS) is seeking to attract a larger percentage of patrons from among the younger demographic, many of whom are technologically inclined. The intermedial performance approach was therefore recommended as a means of bridging the gap with this age group by allowing them to become ‘experiencers’ [Anderson, Gail, ed. 2004. Reinventing the Museum: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on the Paradigm Shift. Oxford: Rowman and Littlefield., 45] of history, rather than passive observers. In order to test this approach, a controlled experiment was set up with a group of 10 young people (ages 17–24) who were given a guided tour of the temporary technology-enhanced World War 1 (WW1) exhibit which was on loan to the BHMS by Alliance Français. They were then given the tour a second time, using an intermedial performance approach, after which they were asked to compare the two experiences. Their responses to the experiment were then analysed in context to immersion, with specific reference to intermedial performance and immersive theatre. This paper reflects on the results of the experiment while serving as an enquiry into the efficacy of technology as a means of enhancing the immersive museum theatre experience, with the aim of appealing to a younger demographic.

Museums, far from being neutral spaces of knowledge, have a significant function in the mediation of memory, identity and cultural values. Vergo (1999) argues that museum exhibitions involve not only a science but also an art of display. In that respect, the art of the exhibition designer is closely related to that of a stage designer. Therefore, display can be seen as “an intrinsically theatrical act” (Vergo 1999, 52), carrying various layers of meaning.
According to Smith (2006), heritage itself takes the form of a ‘cultural performance’, a term that broadens the conceptual understanding of heritage and puts forward its cultural role in the social sphere.  In this context, an exhibition may either aim to promote a consensus narrative over its content or “challenge and redefine received values and identities” (Smith 2006, 4). Theatre has traditionally provided a forum of intellectual engagement and philosophical exchange: the last decades, museum theatre scholars have focused on museum theatre’s potential to challenge what Smith defines as “Authentic Heritage Discourse”: that is, the dominant ways of thinking, talking and writing about heritage (Smith 2011).
In this framework, a research project has recently been implemented, focusing on the permanent exhibition of the Greek National Historical Museum (NHM), which is considered an example of a traditional museum, displaying collections of national importance that articulate notions of national identity (Gazi 2011). The NHM project consists of the design and implementation of a museum theatre programme, followed by the qualitative evaluation of the audience’s experience in terms of their critical engagement with the exhibition’s subject matter. The museum theatre programme will allow greater autonomy on behalf of the audience’s negotiation of meaning(s) and their understanding of what lies behind the museum’s narrative.
The programme is developed around NHM’s first exhibition in 1884, which focused on the Greek revolution against the Ottoman Empire in the beginning of 19th century. A fictional character, a low-class woman whose familial past is strongly related to the revolutionary war, visits the exhibition in 1884, commenting on the objects and interacting with the visitors/audience.
The design process includes extensive primary and secondary research covering anthropological, social, political, and economic aspects of the Athenian society during the second half of 19th century.
Based on the recent body of literature concerning critical heritage studies and museum theatre, this paper details the NHM research project. Specifically, it presents its design process, implementation, evaluation, and results in the light of museum theatre’s potential to promote critical engagement in the context of a traditional exhibition.

Bibliography
Gazi, A. 2011, National museums in Greece: History, Ideology, Narratives. Aronsson, P. and Elgenius, G. (eds), Building National Museums in Europe 1750–2010: Conference Proceedings from EuNaMus, European National Museums: Identity, Politics, the Uses of the Past and the European Citizen, Bologna 28 - 30 April 2011, EuNaMus report no. 1, Linköping: Linköping University, 363-399.
Smith, L. 2011, The “doing” of heritage: heritage as performance. Jackson, A. and Kidd, J. (eds), Performing Heritage, Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Smith, L. 2006, The Uses of Heritage, London: Routledge.
Vergo, P. 1999, “The “New Museology” Revisited.” Archaeology and Arts, 70, 50-52 [in Greek].

The paper talks about the “Theatre at the Industrial Gas Museum” project, which is inspired by the implementation of the “Museum Theatre” technique  in an industrial site, as an alternative interpretative approach of the past. How a contest of writing and performing theatrical monologues for a gas museum inspired artists and theatrical teams? And how the attendance of the monologues has changed the perception of the visitors/public concerning the old Athenian gasworks and the industrial heritage in general?

是次研究，主要是以博物館劇場《 保家衛港》的編劇經驗為例，以實 踐者的角度來探討如何利用主動探究過程(active-inquiry process) 來創作互動劇場及設計其互動環節。研究者會擔任該劇的編劇和互 動設計，逐一歸納和總結實踐中的經驗。其中編劇分八個步驟：一、 發掘令人感興趣或驚訝的資料；二、由不同的角度衝擊既有的歷史 觀；三、讓不同觀點產生碰撞，醞釀衝突化成情節；四、創作典型 化人物承載不同的觀點與角度；五、由編劇的移情再到觀眾的移情； 六、擬定分場；七、邀請演員參與編作；八、整理資料將學習聚焦。 而關於互動環節的設計，論文則會闡述互動環節與演出如何分工與 互補、利用人物與劇情塑造心理過程的方法，及運用框架促成社會 性對話的步驟；至於觀眾人數亦起著不可忽略的限制因素。期望研 究能成為互動劇場創作方法的有用參考。

The study draws on the playwriting experience of the play for museum theatre, Battle for Hong Kong 1941, to examine the creation of interactive theatre and the design of the interactive section through the active-inquiry process from the point of view of an implementer. The researcher is also the playwright and the designer of the play’s interactive section. He summarises and reflects upon the experience. The playwriting part is divided into eight steps: (1) discover intriguing or surprising materials; (2) challenge the existing interpretation of history from various angles; (3) allow various interpretations to crash with each other and turn the resulting conflicts into plots; (4) create archetypal characters that embody the various interpretations and points of views; (5) move from the playwright’s empathy to audience’s empathy; (6) divide the story into scenes; (7) invite actors to join the devising process; and (8) organize the material to develop a specific focus for the learning process. Regarding the designing of the interactive section, this article demonstrates the division of work and complementation between the interactive sections and the acting parts, the method to trigger the psychological process through characters and plots, and the steps to encourage social dialogue by using frameworks. Moreover, the number of audiences place a non-negligible limitation on the live performance. The author hopes this research will become a useful reference material when creating interactive theatre.

This paper focuses on issues arising from the making of an experimental interactive 360-degree video that emerged from a relational ‘immersive’ site-specific theatre project for a public audience that was staged in historic grounds in South Florida, USA in April 2017. This work was undertaken with academics from University of Miami, Kim Grinfeder and Stephen Di Benedetto. The specific nature of the performance event, the filming of aspects of this experience and the post-production processes each raise significant questions relating to the development of methods of ‘interactive’ digital storytelling for ‘immersive’ audience experience. The role of theatre practice and performance design in developing these mediated experiences seems to be an important element that has largely been ignored in thinking about how digital immersive experiences might be created.

The video Estate 360° was first published on-line in January 2018 and is freely available to download: https://interactive.miami.edu/estate/.

The paper is available for free download here: http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/138216/

Published in: Rouse, R, Koenitz, H and Haahr, M, (eds.) Interactive Storytelling, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, volume 11318. ICIDS 2018: 11th International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling, 05-08 Dec 2018, Dublin, Ireland. Springer , pp. 383-391. ISBN 978-3-030-04027-7

This presentation is about the difficulties faced by a theatrical museum in order to preserve an ephemeral art, the theatrical art. How do they manage to offer a theatrical performance of the past to their future visitors? How theatrical art is preserved/saffeguarded in a museum? Αυτή η παρουσίαση αφορά στις δυσκολίες που αντιμετωπίζει ένα θεατρικό μουσείο προκειμένου να διατηρήσει μια εφήμερη τέχνη, τη θεατρική τέχνη. Πώς καταφέρνουν να προσφέρουν μια θεατρική παράσταση του παρελθόντος στους μελλοντικούς τους επισκέπτες; Πώς η θεατρική τέχνη διατηρείται / διαφυλάσσεται σε ένα μουσείο;

This oral presentation indicates the effort of the Industrial Gas Museum to engage its public to the museum's activities. It is about two projects of the museum: the "iNHeritage" project and the "Theatre at the Industrial Gas Museum" project. The scope of these projects was to convert the old Athenian Gasworks from a place that was once only for Authorised personnel into a place where Heritage is for ALL.