Interpretation

Introduction

Museum theatre as an umbrella-term is used to describe a variety of performative events aimed to interpret fragments of cultural heritage. In the framework of one of the main challenges contemporary museums face, that of having a social impact while dealing with heritage, whom values and narratives can always be “contested and disputed” (Smith 2011, 70), museum theatre has proved that not only can it enforce a constructivist approach in a museum environment but it can also generate debate and promote critical thinking on controversial issues (Farthing 2010).

In very rare cases, a deceased woman is depicted alone, as in the tombs of Čalma

There are several reasons why this is so. First of all, re-enactment itself started with the recreation of battles; the tradition goes back all the way to the Roman Empire (for example the naumachia scene during the opening of the Flavian Amphitheatre)

Introduction

For many years, the public has become increasingly aware of historical and archaeological topics, a phenomenon to which large-scale and well-attended exhibitions, so-called ‘medievalmarkets’, the continual success of historical TV-documentaries, and a booming market in specialized books and magazines may attest. Living history formats on television or historical docu-soaps also attract millions of viewers (see, for example, Schwarzwaldhaus 1902, SWR 2002; Steinzeit– DasExperiment, SWR 2007).

Presenting the Discussion

The majority of the people Scott Magelssen interviewed were museum curators and historical interpreters, and their answers were broken up into three main categories:

1. No (mainly because there is no script), 2. Yes, it is a form of theatre, 3. Of course it is theatre. (Magelssen 106-119)

Combining theoretical perspectives with two case studies carried out in 2008 with British students aged from 10-17 years old, this paper will explore how living history might contribute to the development of young people’s historical consciousness and help them to cope with the social and cultural differences which confront them when learning about the past. In particular, it will focus on the effectiveness of first- and third-person interpretation.