Documentary Theatre as a Place of Collective Memory of the War

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 1:45 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: Documentation, Collective Memory, and Agency: The Power of Collaborative Theatre Across the Lifespan (Table 1)

Abstract

This paper provides a theory of documentary theatre based on the work of Husserl and Ricoeur that emphasizes the social and collaborative nature of the process of performance. This theory is then applied to the development of a play about the Second World War in the Ukraine the author participated. The paper discusses participant selection, the transformation of research into performance, the performance itself and audience impact. It concludes by sharing ideas for future research and discussing the value of documentary theatre.

Author

• Daria Vystavkina, Cologne-Bonn Academy in Exile