Performance, Learning & Heritage Research Report and DVD Now Available

Many of you may have been following the heritage performance research project at the University of Manchester. (Their Center for Applied Theatre Research was awarded a major grant by the UK Arts & Humanities Research Council to study theatre and drama as interpretive tools with visitors to historic sites and museums.)

The three and a half year project officially ended on November 30. A Full Report, Executive Summary and detailed "data trawls" from each of the four case studies are now available on the PLH website, and also as part of a combined CD-Rom and DVD set.

The pack includes the full Research Report – the project rationale, narrative, methodology and detailed findings together with detailed 'data trawls' from each of the 4 main case studies – and edited highlights from the four main case study performances and also from keynote speeches (by Catherine Hughes, Baz Kershaw, Laurajane Smith and Tony Jackson and Jenny Kidd) given at the international conference held at the University of Manchester in April 2008: "Performing Heritage – research and practice". The performance extracts illustrate vividly and uniquely the diversity of museum performance and costumed interpretation practice, and the diversity of sites and audiences that the practice serves. Included are extracts from:

• The Gunner's Tale and The Chelsea Pensioner's Tale at the National Maritime Museum (London) – for the general public
• 'First person interpretation' and 'the great debates' at Llancaiach Fawr Manor (a 17th century manor in South Wales) – for organised school groups
• Triangle Theatre’s The Pollard Trail, in collaboration with The Herbert Art Gallery & Museum (Coventry) – a 'heritage trail' for the general public
• This Accursed Thing at The Manchester Museum – for general public and organised school groups

Together with the report they provide an important and timely means of accessing the research findings, and a unique research, study, teaching and training resource, for use by researchers and students in theatre/performance studies and museum/heritage studies, by practitioners, and by museum learning and public programme managers.

The Report CD-ROM + DVD pack is now available. The price is £10 incl. P&P in the UK and £15 worldwide. For more information or to place an order, please see the PLH website: http://www.plh.manchester.ac.uk/

Theatre Program Evaluation Reports Available from the Monterey Bay Aquarium

Thank you to Simone Mortan and the Monterey Bay Aquarium for posting their reports of the evaluations of their 2007 and 2008 summer museum theatre programs. The reports are available to IMTAL members in the Document Exchange in the members area of the IMTAL web site.

The above photo is of the Monterey Bay Aquarium's 2007 production of Basta Basura! Enough Trash! written and directed by Kinan Valdez of El Teatro Campesino. The founder of El Teatro Campesino, Luiz Valdez, will be the keynote speaker at the 2009 Global IMTAL conference (August 23-27, 2009) which will be hosted by the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, CA. Session proposals are now being accepted for the conference - the deadline is January 15, 2009. More information about the conference and session proposal guidelines are avaialable HERE.

IMTAL at MAAM in DC

The Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums (MAAM) held its annual meeting in Washington, DC from October 27-29, 2008 with the theme: MAAM on the Mall: The Museum as Storyteller. IMTAL maintained a strong presence at the conference with a double session titled Museum Theatre: Storytelling through Performance.

Eleven IMTAL members collaborated to present a fast-paced session that included sample performances, answered some basic questions and discussed the entire spectrum of museum theatre. Todd Norris, Bill Weldon and Jeff Villines from Colonial Williamsburg performed a scene (see above) and spoke about their Revolutionary City program and working with actors. Roberta Gasbarre from the Smithsonian's Discovery Theater showcased an excerpt from her touring show African Roots, Latino Soul with actors Nia Medina, Giselle Gilpin and Fernando Romero and technician Kathryn Pong. She also discussed the evolution of the Discovery Theater and its touring program. Jillian Finkle chaired the session and presented definitions of museum theatre as well as a case for its use.

In Part 2 of the session Larry Gard from the Science Museum of Virginia performed The Curse of King Tut's Tomb and discussed script development and working with playwrights. Jillian Finkle discussed the National Children's Museum latest outreach theatre productions and introduced the attendees to creative drama. Harriet Lynn of the Heritage Theatre Artists' Consortium in Baltimore, MD closed the session with a presentation of oral history performance as a way to engage museums' communities, highlighting her program East-Side West-Side Life Stories as an example.

Lively discussion throughout the sessions raised questions such as how the museum theatre community might engage with the professional theatre community and how the current economic crisis might affect existing, emerging and new museum theatre programs. The idea of quality control and the setting of museum theatre standards of excellence was raised as an important issue facing the field moving forward, pointing to the impact that a single negative experience with museum theatre can have on museum colleagues and decision-makers. (If any of you have thoughts on that topic, please leave a comment!)

IMTAL members can access the outline and handouts from the session on the Conference Hub page of the Members Only Area.

October Board Meeting in Ottawa

The IMTAL Board had its fall board meeting this past weekend in Ottawa, Ontario. The foliage was beautiful and we accomplished a great deal - we even managed to successfully use videoconferencing for the first time!

The agenda included IMTAL's participation in AAM this spring and planning for the Global IMTAL Conference in Monterey, CA in August 2009. Be on the look out for emails inviting you to perform in the AAM Museum Theatre Showcase, nominate your Director for the IMTY Award and submit a session proposal for the confernence. One major decision (effective immediately) was to change to a rolling membership year, so that all memberships will expire exactly 12 months from the time they were received. You can also find information about these items on the web site and members can read the meeting minutes in the members area.

Dramamuse, the Canadian Museum of Civilization's resident theatre company, treated the Board to a performance of their current show: Justice en Nouvelle-France/Justice in New France (in both French and English!) and a tour of the Canada Hall exhibition. Check them out HERE.

Thank you to Jennifer Boyes-Manseau, the Dramamuse staff and the Canadian Museum of Civilization for hosting the meeting!

Theatre in Museums Workshop 2008

Over forty participants from museums across the country, including Hawaii; and from Canada and Trinidad participated in this year’s annual Theatre in Museums Workshop, held at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis.

Sessions and performances were presented by Freetown Village, Indiana, the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, Minnestrista Cultural Center, Muncie, Indiana, The Smithsonian National Museum of American History, The Science Museum of Minnesota, St. Paul , and Chronical Productions . This year, the Workshop also hosted members of the STEPS project. STEPS (Science Theater Education Programming System) is a collaboration between museums to create an innovative, interactive museum theater presentation system.

IMTAL hosted an evening trip to Comedy Sportz during Part 1 of the Workshop. Above is a photo (taken by Crystal Fields) of one of the workshop participants who had been called up on stage by the players. "Um, Waiter... there's an... actor in my soup!"

Special thanks to Tessa Bridal, the Children's Museum of Indianapolis, Greg Hardison, and everyone who particpated.

Please check the IMTAL site in April 2009 for information about next year's Workshop.

IMTAL Well-Represented at AASLH

IMTAL members and members of the IMTAL Board talked about museum theatre with the attendees at the American Association for State and Local History 2008 Annual Meeting in Rochester, NY.

Dale Jones of Making History Connections presented a session on transformative experiences and Greg Hardison and Elizabeth Pickard hosted a museum theatre table at the Education Showcase (pictured above - thank you to Laura Ayers for the photo!)

For those of you from history museums, what more could IMTAL do to meet your specific needs? Please comment here or send us an email at http://www.imtal.org/.

IMTAL Event at the Theatre in Museums Workshop

IMTAL will be hosting a social event the evening of September 23, 2008 during Part I of the Theatre in Museums Workshop in Indianapolis, IN.

Please join us for a trip to see Indianapolis Comedy Sportz!

The event is open to everyone, IMTAL members or not, whether you are attending the workshop or not. However, if you are not part of the workshop, please RSVP to the IMTAL Treasurer because seating is limited.

We hope to see you there!

Report from the Kentucky Conference

There is now a report from the IMTAL Annual Conference in Frankfort, Kentucky (held September 5-6, 2008) posted on the IMTAL site at www.imtal.org/regional_kentucky.asp.

View a collections of photos from the conference in the photo gallery at www.imtal.org/photos_kentucky_2008.asp.

Notes taken during each of the major sessions are available for IMTAL members. (You will need to login to the members only area of the site, and please contact us if you've forgotten your password.)

Thank you to all that participated, and an especially big thank you to Greg Hardison, Adam Luckey, and the Kentucky Historical Society for hosting the event with such warm hospitality!

IMTAL now has a news blog!

Welcome to the news blog for the International Museum Theatre Alliance (IMTAL-Americas). Here we'll be posting news, events and announcements for anyone interested in using performance and drama for interpretation and education in museums and cultural institutions.

Also be sure to check out IMTAL's web site at http://www.imtal.org/ for more details, information and resources, to become a member of our organization, or to contact us.