ABSTRACT
This chapter proposes that live performance creates, through audiences' experience and memory, an enduring artefact uniquely suited to facilitate museum visitors' exploration of challenging material. Specifically, the chapter examines two theatrical events that took place in museums during 2011. The research takes the form of an analysis of each production and conversations with key practitioners at both museums and with both theatre companies. Neither production originated with the host museum, although both were deeply relevant to the museums' collections. Both caused logistical challenges for their respective hosts. However, by reframing visitors' as audiences', these productions suggest intriguing ways of interpreting challenging histories. Additionally, by virtue of being performance runs as opposed to one-off events, the two productions provide an opportunity to consider the effect of duration in using theatre as an interpretative and re-interpretative tool. Here, Kirschenblatt-Gimblett reminds you of the fundamental theatricality of heritage, in which museums perform the knowledge they create'.
