Exploring Museum Theatre

Tessa Bridal is Director of Public Programs for the Science Museum of Minnesota, one of the pioneer institutions in the use of theatre as an interpretive technique.

Tessa Bridal is considered by many museum administrators and theatre artists to be the country's leading authority regarding the use of theatre as an educational tool in museums. Ms. Bridal's professional reputation alone will be enough to convince those people to purchase this book. Having read the work, however, I can also testify with a great deal of enthusiasm that her discussions are both comprehensive and scholarly.

• Chapter 1 Preface or Dramatic PrologueChapter 2 Chapter I: What Is Museum Theatre?Chapter 3 Chapter II: A Brief HistoryChapter 4 Chapter III: The Interpretive PaletteChapter 5 Chapter IV: Selecting, Writing, and Developing Your First ProgramChapter 6 Chapter V: General Costs and How to Fund ThemChapter 7 Chapter VI: There's an Actor in our Collections!Chapter 8 Chapter VII: Technical Requirements and StaffChapter 9 Chapter VIII: Evaluations and Visitor Perspective FindingsChapter 10 Chapter IX: Selling the IdeaChapter 11 Chapter X: Promoting and Marketing Your Theatre ProgramChapter 12 Chapter XI: How Theatre Has Been Used to Present Difficult IssuesChapter 13 Chapter XII: Collaborations and PartnershipsChapter 14 Chapter XIII: Historic InterpretationChapter 15 Epilogue: The Future of Museum TheatreChapter 16 Appendix A: Average Costs Incurred in Mountain Museum Theatre Productions and Sample Budgets for Small, Medium and Large ProgramsChapter 17 Appendix B: Elements of a Treatment and Sample TreatmentChapter 18 Appendix C: Sample Contract - Playwright, Director, Actor, DesignersChapter 19 Appendix D: Position Description - Actor/PresenterChapter 20 Appendix E: Audition FormChapter 21 Appendix F: Position Description - Theatre/Presentations CoordinatorChapter 22 Appendix G: Glossary of Commonly Used Theatre TermsChapter 23 BibliographyChapter 24 About the Author