Site 1 : Understanding the Site
- Site policy and mission statements - archive research (including press), website as a whole, interviews with employees/directors. By looking at the press and through interviewing, we can establish the attitude of the site and its employees towards its performance pieces.
- House-style - archive research, interviews with employees/directors, interviews with interpreters.
- The theatricalised space - how the Queen's House (for example) is approached by the audience. How does the relocation of the audience impact upon audience enjoyment, interpreter actions etc. Observational research (visual elements: video, photography, also tracking and mapping), interviews with audiences, interviews with interpreters.
- Denotation of performance space and audience-space, (explicitly or implicitly) - observational research including participant observation (video, photography, tracking and mapping).
- Site-specificity of performance - How has the Museum decided to use the site in the publicity? What are the views of employees and directors? (Interviews). How do the audience feel about the site? Is it another actor in the performance? (Interviews). Also, and crucially, analysis of visual records.
Addressing the above theme is vital in order to answer research questions related to the effectiveness of theatre between different sites, and between different types of sites. It is also crucial in order to map the objectives of the Museum site for their performance 'programme', and what (if any) strategies they are using to evaluate it.
All images © National Maritime Museum London
