Historian's Toolkit

Using Theater as a Tool for Public History Education

History is more than facts and dates—it is the lived experience of people, their voices, emotions, and contradictions. For public historians, making the past accessible and engaging to diverse audiences requires more than exhibits or articles. One powerful, often underused method is theater.

From reenactments of courtroom trials to community-devised performances about local struggles, theater allows audiences to see, feel, and question history in real time. It humanizes distant figures, complicates dominant narratives, and invites active interpretation.

Why Use Theater in Public History?

The Power of Embodied Interpretation

Theater transforms passive learning into embodied engagement. Audiences don’t just learn about history—they experience it. Through character, dialogue, and staging, theater:

• Brings marginalized or silenced voices to the forefront
• Reveals the emotional and ethical complexity of past events
• Encourages empathy and historical imagination
• Sparks dialogue about contemporary parallels

Accessibility and Engagement

Unlike academic texts, theater reaches broad, intergenerational audiences, including those who may feel excluded from traditional institutions. When grounded in rigorous research, performance becomes a public scholarship tool, making historical inquiry visible, participatory, and memorable.

Practical Approaches to History-Based Theater

1. Verbatim or Documentary Theater

Definition: A genre that uses real interviews, testimonies, or archival material as dialogue.

Steps to Create:

• Conduct and transcribe oral history interviews.
• Select key narratives or excerpts that reflect thematic or chronological arcs.
• Preserve original language and speech patterns to retain authenticity.
• Craft a script using only these real words, with minimal fictionalization.

Example: The Laramie Project (2000), created by Moisés Kaufman and Tectonic Theater Project, is based on interviews conducted in Laramie, Wyoming, after the murder of Matthew Shepard. It’s a model of how verbatim theater can combine journalism, oral history, and empathy.

Tool: Otter.ai or Descript for transcription and audio-text alignment.

2. First-Person Interpretation (Living History)

Definition: Actors portray historical figures or archetypes, often in character for immersive experiences.

Use Case: Museums, battlefield sites, or cultural festivals.

Tips for Success:

• Train interpreters in both historical knowledge and improvisational skills.
• Encourage audiences to ask questions and interact.
• Clarify whether the interpretation is first-person (“in character”) or third-person (“about the character”).

Example: Colonial Williamsburg employs trained historical interpreters who portray enslaved individuals, artisans, and political figures with attention to detail and sensitivity.

Resource: ALHFAM (Association for Living History, Farm and Agricultural Museums) offers training materials and community standards.

3. Community-Devised Theater

Definition: Collaborative theater-making that involves community members in script development, often blending memory, local history, and performance.

Why It Matters: This method prioritizes community voice and ownership, rather than presenting history to an audience from a distance.

Steps:

• Facilitate workshops to gather stories, artifacts, and themes.
• Develop the narrative collectively with participants.
• Employ local actors or residents to perform.
• Hold talkbacks to foster discussion and collect feedback.

Example: In the UK, theater company Cardboard Citizens worked with people affected by homelessness to create plays based on their lived experiences, which connected with broader themes of policy and social history.

Ethical Considerations

Whose Story Is Being Told?

Historians must ensure authenticity and consent, especially when representing:

• Survivors of trauma
• Marginalized communities
• Contested histories

Avoid reducing complex lives to symbolic lessons or emotionally manipulative content. Collaborate, don’t extract.

Representation vs. Appropriation

Portraying historical figures from different racial, cultural, or gender backgrounds raises questions of authority and appropriation. Whenever possible, cast appropriately and consult with relevant communities or experts.

Balancing Art with Accuracy

Artistic liberties are sometimes necessary for flow and structure, but they must be transparent. Use program notes, post-show discussions, or signage to distinguish between verified content and creative interpretation.

Tools and Resources

StoryCorps Archive – Use real oral histories to build characters and dialogue

Playback Theatre – A global movement using improvisation to re-enact audience stories on the spot

Smithsonian History Theater Toolkit – Guidance for educators and curators (available via Smithsonian Learning Lab)

Scriptwriting Tools:

• Celtx (free screenwriting software)
• Google Docs with comment threads for collaborative script editing
• Scrivener (for managing large historical data sets and narrative drafts)

Case Studies in Public History Theater

Case 1: “Hamilton” as a National History Lens

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton is a cultural phenomenon that reshaped how Americans engage with the Founding Fathers. While it has been praised for:

• Casting actors of color in central roles
• Making history accessible through hip-hop and musicality

…it has also been criticized for:

• Glossing over the Founders’ role in slavery
• Creating a celebratory, uncritical tone

Lesson: Popular success doesn’t absolve public history projects from critical scrutiny and balance.

Case 2: “The Trial of Susan B. Anthony”

• Explore suffrage law
• Participate by reading roles or asking questions
• Reflect on legal and gendered discourse in American democracy

Result: A replicable, accessible model that can be used in classrooms or civic spaces.

How to Get Started

For Historians or Teachers:

• Partner with a local theater, university drama department, or museum.
• Identify a historical theme that resonates with your community.
• Start with a short, workshop-style performance based on oral histories.

For Students:

• Choose a topic for a class project (e.g., “Voices from the Civil Rights Movement”).
• Record or collect interviews.
• Create monologues or scenes based on real people.

Conclusion

Theater invites us to reimagine historical storytelling—not just as scholars, but as facilitators of lived memory, emotion, and engagement. When used responsibly and thoughtfully, theater can bridge gaps between academic history and public understanding, especially in times of social division or cultural change.

In a world where history is increasingly contested, performing the past offers a powerful space to reflect, remember, and respond.