Documentary theatre
Encyclopedia
Documentary theatre is theatre that wholly or in part uses pre-existing documentary material (such as newspapers, government reports, interviews, etc.) as source material for the script, ideally without altering its wording.
Documentary theater sits at the intersection of art and politics and can be seen as a catalyst for social change. Documentary theater, or theater of fact, is a genre that uses dramatic representation of societal forces through the use of pre-existing documentary material (i.e.. newspapers, government reports, interviews, etc) as source material for the script. It is common in this type of theater that each actor take on several roles and the script be written as verbatim theater or the playwright’s use of exact interviews in the script.
Documentary theater plays typically lacks a set and the actors change costumes and use body language in order to portray a multitude of characters on stage. The events are not acted out but told from the point of view of the person being interviewed. Documentary theater plays tend to not have a lot of background music, allowing the audience to focus on the words that were spoken by the interviewees. Also, no interview or newsource is weighed as more important or more dramatic than another. The actors convey what they know is accurate and allow the audience to develop their own political points of view. Documentary theater is difficult to define in advance. It is a complicated, experimental and conceptual. In addition, the effects of documentary theater on society are wide-ranging and hard to measure.
Documentary theatre has existed as a genre for as long as theatre
itself has existed. Attilio Favorini, professor of Theater Arts at the University of Pittsburgh
, dates the first dramatic documentary impulse back to 492 BC when the ancient Greek
playwright
Phrynicus produced his play The Capture of Miletus about the Persian War
. He traces the genre through to European medieval mystery plays, Elizabethan England and Shakespeare's historical tragedies, French revolutionary patriotic dramas, British and American 1930s
Living Newspaper
s and German plays about the Holocaust.
In its modern form, documentary theatre was pioneered by two famous German authors and directors – Bertolt Brecht
and Erwin Piscator
in the 1920s, focusing on issues of social conflict
, class
tensions and power structures. Essentially derived from Brecht and Piscator's Epic Theatre
, Piscator developed his own 'Living Newspaper' in the 1930s.
In his documentary anthology, Voicings: Ten Plays from the Documentary Theater, Favorini collects the most important 20th century examples of the genre and demonstrates that documentary theatre is highly relevant and resonant in societies that create and consume contemporary news as aggressively as we do.
Modern documentary theatre artists include Anna Deavere Smith
, Sarah Jones
, Nilaja Sun, Brooke Haycock Mike WileyNews & Observer and the performance groups Culture Clash
and the Tectonic Theater Project
. Many of these artists create what is known as verbatim theatre
, using the exact words of people interviewed by the playwright.
The play is a series of monologues excerpted from interviews conducted by Smith with leading politicians, writers and religious leaders in addition to residents of Crown Heights and various other participants in the disturbance. Through interviews with 26 individuals, in 29 monologues Smith acts out each interview by herself. Exploring how barriers between groups can be breached.
and the members of the Tectonic Theater Project
went to Laramie, Wyoming
and began interviewing citizens about the October 1998 kidnapping and murder of Matthew Shepard
, a gay student who was studying at the University of Wyoming
. Kaufman and his company spent over a year traveling back and forth to Laramie and conducting over 200 interviews. These interviews were then fashioned into The Laramie Project
. The play is a collection of interviews with the people closest to this traumatic and controversial event. The interviewers in a presentational style later perform it, where the characters talk primarily to the audience. The Laramie Project uses several actors and each actor takes on several roles. The Laramie Project is distinctive because the writers/actors/interviewers became characters in the play. Their thoughts and opinions became part of the script and in the original productions the actors played themselves.
History
Documentary theater can be used as a way to promote understanding and dialogue between people with differing points of views and deeply ingrained histories of conflict. It is used to get the entire picture of what has occurred in a specific event through the process of interviewing people involved. Its purpose is to adhere to the emotional aspect of a specific situation and portray all sides of an event. The value of theater lies in its ability to emphasize the differences between people and begin building bridges between those distinctions.Documentary theater sits at the intersection of art and politics and can be seen as a catalyst for social change. Documentary theater, or theater of fact, is a genre that uses dramatic representation of societal forces through the use of pre-existing documentary material (i.e.. newspapers, government reports, interviews, etc) as source material for the script. It is common in this type of theater that each actor take on several roles and the script be written as verbatim theater or the playwright’s use of exact interviews in the script.
Documentary theater plays typically lacks a set and the actors change costumes and use body language in order to portray a multitude of characters on stage. The events are not acted out but told from the point of view of the person being interviewed. Documentary theater plays tend to not have a lot of background music, allowing the audience to focus on the words that were spoken by the interviewees. Also, no interview or newsource is weighed as more important or more dramatic than another. The actors convey what they know is accurate and allow the audience to develop their own political points of view. Documentary theater is difficult to define in advance. It is a complicated, experimental and conceptual. In addition, the effects of documentary theater on society are wide-ranging and hard to measure.
Documentary theatre has existed as a genre for as long as theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
itself has existed. Attilio Favorini, professor of Theater Arts at the University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...
, dates the first dramatic documentary impulse back to 492 BC when the ancient Greek
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
Phrynicus produced his play The Capture of Miletus about the Persian War
Persian War
Several wars are termed "Persian" or called simply "the Persian War:"* Greco-Persian Wars* Roman-Persian Wars* Russo-Persian Wars**Russo-Persian War **Russo-Persian War **Russo-Persian War **Russo-Persian War...
. He traces the genre through to European medieval mystery plays, Elizabethan England and Shakespeare's historical tragedies, French revolutionary patriotic dramas, British and American 1930s
1930s
File:1930s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: Dorothea Lange's photo of the homeless Florence Thompson show the effects of the Great Depression; Due to the economic collapse, the farms become dry and the Dust Bowl spreads through America; The Battle of Wuhan during the Second Sino-Japanese...
Living Newspaper
Living Newspaper
Living Newspaper is a term for a theatrical form presenting factual information on current events to a popular audience. Historically, Living Newspapers have also urged social action and reacted against naturalistic and realistic theatrical conventions in favor of the more direct, experimental...
s and German plays about the Holocaust.
In its modern form, documentary theatre was pioneered by two famous German authors and directors – Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
and Erwin Piscator
Erwin Piscator
Erwin Friedrich Maximilian Piscator was a German theatre director and producer and, with Bertolt Brecht, the foremost exponent of epic theatre, a form that emphasizes the socio-political content of drama, rather than its emotional manipulation of the audience or on the production's formal...
in the 1920s, focusing on issues of social conflict
Social conflict
Social conflict is the struggle for agency or power in society.Social conflict or group conflict occurs when two or more actors oppose each other in social interaction,reciprocally exerting social power in an effort to attain scarce or incompatible goals and prevent the opponent from attaining them...
, class
Social class
Social classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'...
tensions and power structures. Essentially derived from Brecht and Piscator's Epic Theatre
Epic theatre
Epic theatre was a theatrical movement arising in the early to mid-20th century from the theories and practice of a number of theatre practitioners, including Erwin Piscator, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Vsevolod Meyerhold and, most famously, Bertolt Brecht...
, Piscator developed his own 'Living Newspaper' in the 1930s.
In his documentary anthology, Voicings: Ten Plays from the Documentary Theater, Favorini collects the most important 20th century examples of the genre and demonstrates that documentary theatre is highly relevant and resonant in societies that create and consume contemporary news as aggressively as we do.
Documentary Theatre in Theory
Documentary theater is a movement that attempts to bring social issues to the stage by emphasizing factual information over aesthetic considerations. The creator or playwright is trying to start a dialogue with the audience by focusing on the psychological and interpersonal aspect of a particular event. Documentary drama tries to create itself as a second source or a commentary on an event or person.Documentary Theatre in Practice
The basic tension of documentary theater is the battle of the actual versus the fictive. The playwright has their audience captivated; with the ability to show whatever side they want during the performance. While documentary theater playwrights have a responsibility to the truth, sometimes their involvement in the project makes them biased. A question of whether or not objectivity is attainable is substantial in the evaluation of documentary theater.Modern documentary theatre
Documentary theater is not new but in the last decade, several high profile productions have brought focus to this theatrical form. Documentary theater is subjective yet has the ability to inspire and educate its audience members. The exploration of examples of documentary theatre will help to reduce confusion regarding the purpose of this theatrical genre.Modern documentary theatre artists include Anna Deavere Smith
Anna Deavere Smith
Anna Deavere Smith is an American actress, playwright, and professor. She is currently the artist in residence at the Center for American Progress.-Early life:...
, Sarah Jones
Sarah Jones
Sarah Jones is a Tony- and Obie Award-winning American playwright, actress, and poet.Called "a master of the genre" by The New York Times, Jones has written and performed four multi-character solo shows, including Bridge & Tunnel, which was produced Off-Broadway in 2004 by Oscar-winner Meryl...
, Nilaja Sun, Brooke Haycock Mike WileyNews & Observer and the performance groups Culture Clash
Culture Clash
Culture Clash may refer to:* Culture Clash , American performance troupe* Culture Clash , British band which plays Harare Jit music...
and the Tectonic Theater Project
Tectonic Theater Project
With Moisés Kaufman at the helm, the Tectonic Theater Project explores the ways in which experimentation with form and structure can inform theme in contemporary drama....
. Many of these artists create what is known as verbatim theatre
Verbatim theatre
Verbatim theatre is a form of documentary theatre in which plays are constructed from the precise words spoken by people interviewed about a particular event or topic.-Definition:...
, using the exact words of people interviewed by the playwright.
Fires in the Mirror
Fires in the Mirror is a play by American playwright, author, actress and professor Anna Deavere Smith that chronicles the viewpoints of people connected to the Crown Heights riots in Brooklyn in 1991.The play is a series of monologues excerpted from interviews conducted by Smith with leading politicians, writers and religious leaders in addition to residents of Crown Heights and various other participants in the disturbance. Through interviews with 26 individuals, in 29 monologues Smith acts out each interview by herself. Exploring how barriers between groups can be breached.
The Laramie Project
In November of 1998, Moises KaufmanMoisés Kaufman
Moisés Kaufman is a playwright, director and founder of Tectonic Theater Project. He is the author of Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde, 33 Variations and is perhaps best known for writing The Laramie Project with other members of Tectonic Theater Project...
and the members of the Tectonic Theater Project
Tectonic Theater Project
With Moisés Kaufman at the helm, the Tectonic Theater Project explores the ways in which experimentation with form and structure can inform theme in contemporary drama....
went to Laramie, Wyoming
Laramie, Wyoming
Laramie is a city in and the county seat of Albany County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 30,816 at the . Located on the Laramie River in southeastern Wyoming, the city is west of Cheyenne, at the junction of Interstate 80 and U.S. Route 287....
and began interviewing citizens about the October 1998 kidnapping and murder of Matthew Shepard
Matthew Shepard
Matthew Wayne Shepard was a student at the University of Wyoming who was tortured and murdered near Laramie, Wyoming, in October 1998...
, a gay student who was studying at the University of Wyoming
University of Wyoming
The University of Wyoming is a land-grant university located in Laramie, Wyoming, situated on Wyoming's high Laramie Plains, at an elevation of 7,200 feet , between the Laramie and Snowy Range mountains. It is known as UW to people close to the university...
. Kaufman and his company spent over a year traveling back and forth to Laramie and conducting over 200 interviews. These interviews were then fashioned into The Laramie Project
The Laramie Project
The Laramie Project is a play by Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project about the reaction to the 1998 murder of University of Wyoming gay student Matthew Shepard in Laramie,...
. The play is a collection of interviews with the people closest to this traumatic and controversial event. The interviewers in a presentational style later perform it, where the characters talk primarily to the audience. The Laramie Project uses several actors and each actor takes on several roles. The Laramie Project is distinctive because the writers/actors/interviewers became characters in the play. Their thoughts and opinions became part of the script and in the original productions the actors played themselves.