Documentary & Verbatim Theatre

Verbatim theatre is a non-traditional mode of writing and performance that dramatizes people’s real-world experiences. Many documentary and verbatim productions reflect on major historical or cultural events and are ideal techniques to highlight often oppressed or marginalized voices, and use both historical documents and interviews to learn about the subject. Troupes such as the Tectonic Theatre Project are dedicated to accurately representing the lives of those who have had profound experiences. Verbatim theatre is also often performed as a one-person show, in which one actor will portray all of the people interviewed through monologues.

Key Dates, Events, & Genres

• 1923 - Blue Blouse Troupes begin staging agitprop productions throughout Russia
• 1925 - Erwin Piscator presents In Spite of Everything, using newsreels within the production
• 1935-1939 - The Federal Theatre Project
• 1938 - The Unity Theatre in England presents Busmen
• 1963-1973 - The Open Theatre, an experimental group based in New York City, uses historical documents and improvisation as the basis for workshops, rehearsals, and performances
• 1974 - Eric Bentley’s play Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been: The Investigations of Show-Business by the Un-American Activities Committee used the testimonies of the HUAC in the 1950s
• 1992 - Anna Deavere Smith presents Fires in the Mirror. In 1993, she premieres Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992.
• 2000 - The Laramie Project by Moisés Kaufman and the Tectonic Theatre Project
• 2003 - I Am My Own Wife premieres Off-Broadway, then transfers to Broadway. It won the 2004 Tony Award for Best Play
• 2013 - Come From Away, billed as a story of September 12, recounts the experiences of the citizens and visitors to Gander, Newfoundland after the September 11 attacks