Offering a roadmap for practicing verbatim theatre (plays created from oral histories), this book outlines theatre processes through the lens of oral history and draws upon oral history scholarship to bring best practices from that discipline to theatre practitioners.

This book opens with an overview of oral history and verbatim theatre, considering the ways in which existing oral history debates can inform verbatim theatre processes and highlights necessary ethical considerations within each field, which are especially prevalent when working with narrators from marginalised communities. It provides a step-by-step guide to creating plays from interviews and contains practical guidance for determining the scope of a theatre project: identifying narrators and conducting interviews, developing a script from excerpts of interview transcripts and outlining a variety of ways to create verbatim theatre productions. By bringing together this explicit discussion of oral history in relationship to theatre based on personal testimonies, the reader gains insight into each field and the close relationship between the two.

Supported by international case studies that cover a wide range of working methods and productions, including The Laramie Project and Parramatta Girls, this is the perfect guide for oral historians producing dramatic representations of the material they have sourced through interviews, and for writers creating professional theatre productions, community projects or student plays.

About the Author

Clare Summerskill is an independent academic researcher who has recently completed her PhD at Royal Holloway University of London in the Drama department. She is chair and co-founder of the UK's Oral History Society LGBTQ Special Interest Group. She is also a playwright, stand-up and singer-songwriter.

Reviews

"This is a welcome, informative and very helpful resource for students and practitioners of oral history and verbatim theatre. In her detailed consideration of the history, ethics and practicalities of verbatim performance, Summerskill guides the reader with expertise and insight drawing on examples from world theatre and her own professional practice."

Chris Megson, Royal Holloway University of London, UK

Book Information
ISBN 9780367181505
Author Clare Summerskill
Format Paperback
Page Count 202
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 1120g