Live Interpretation

Live performance and museum theatre are not new areas of interpretation in museums and historic sites. This workshop will explore how museum educators and performers are engaging with audiences and new research and evaluation methods in this field. Contributors will include:

University of Manchester – This session will introduce and contextualise a unique performance project that has been taking place over the past few months. This Accursed Thing is both the product of, and a case study in, a three year research project at the University looking at the uses and impact of performance as a learning medium in museums and at heritage sites.

Lancashire County Museums Service – This session will outline how role-play at eight museum sites has been developed as part of the main menu of offerings to schools and will cover the rationale behind the approach, recruitment, training and resources.

International Museum Theatre Alliance (Europe) - Anna Farthing, director at IMTAL will discuss her recent work on slavery and abolition using live and recorded drama for both participation and performance with The British Empire and Commonwealth Museum, The International Slavery Museum, The Royal Naval Museum, Creative Partnerships Cumbria, English Heritage and school groups.

Museum of Science & Industry – The Learning Manager will give an introduction to live interpretation at MoSI; why it is part of the programme, what is available, how characters are developed and future plans.

Cathy Crabb, Freelancer writer and workshop facilitator – Cathy has worked in theatre all her life and will talk about a terrifying writing workshop in Transylvania, making teenagers cry at Manchester Cathedral and will perform her sketch 'Beckett for Children'.

There will also be an opportunity for delegates to participate in a workshop lead by a presenter. Four sessions will run concurrently for 1 hour. Delegates can choose from the options below:

1. Peter Bull is a musician who specialises in period music on period instruments and performs regularly at the Tower of London. He will perform a selection of Georgian music and discuss the role music plays in historic interpretation.
2. Daley Donnelly explores how to interpret historic sites and communicate history in a dramatic role based on his experience of developing programmes for schools when he worked for Queensland Parks & Wildlife and other Heritage sites in Australia.
3. Stephen Howe, Museum Presenter at MoSI will appear as the Scottish engineer James Watt to discuss the development of the character and other ways of using costumed interpretation.
4. This Accursed Thing: A powerful promenade performance around Manchester Museum looks into the trans-Atlantic slave trade, through the eyes of the people who were there.