Interpretation
Live Interpretation
Museum Theatre
First Person Interpretation
Third Person Interpretation
Living History
Re-enactment
Role Play
Storytelling
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MUSEUM THEATRE AND LIVE INTERPRETATION?
They are more similar than different! Both can be performance, script or scenario-based or completely spontaneous and improvised.
The term “theatre” tends to be used by trained actors working in this field, often in dedicated performance spaces within museums and galleries (ie.. non-historic contexts).
The term “live interpretation” tends to be used by those who come from a history or museology background and often takes place in historic contexts (eg. open air museums, historic houses).
It is the quality and appropriateness of theatre or live interpretation (rather than any slight difference in approach) which counts. The aim of both is to communicate facts, concepts, and/or an historical period as effectively and memorably as possible.
IS IT THE SAME AS LIVING HISTORY?
Living history is often unstructured in terms of narrative, and focussed on past life skills such as crafts or ways of working. Living history tends to describe a context (recreated street, open air museum) as much as any activity (like theatre or live interpretation) which may happen there.
IS IT THE SAME AS RE-ENACTMENT?
In re-enactment the emphasis tends to be on visual impact at a distance. Live interpretation is more reliant on dialogue between interpreters or between interpreter and audience (see key definitions).Re-enactors are often hobbyists, who take part in larger scale re-enactments of battles or other costumed events as a leisure activity rather than as a profession.