Abstract
Since the 1940s, exhibition design theory has been dominated by the notion of the storyline, which naturally suggests a traditional form of dramaturgy-narrative, a storyteller, a dramaturge responsible for setting the stage etc. This paper explores the ways in which the paradigm of the storyline and, as a consequence of dramaturgy, have been called into question in recent years by an increased emphasis on user-driven strategies which alter and occasionally diminish the role of the dramaturge dramatically. It looks at a series of examples in which setting the stage means unlocking the user’s creativity, and encouraging self-initiated, self-directed, and self-sustaining activity. In this respect the dramaturge’s role is less that of a theatre director, and more of a game designer.
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Drew Ann Wake and the author have worked on interpretive projects together since 1976. From 1989 until 1994 they worked together as the Wake/Bradburne Partnership, and realised several projects, including those described below. In 1994, Drew Ann Wake founded her own consultancy, Live Wires Design, based in Vancouver, Canada, and the author took up his current position as Head of Design at newMetropolis, in Amsterdam. Drew Ann Wake worked in Calgary with the Science Alberta Foundation from 1989 until 1992. The following papers by Drew Ann Wake and the author give greater detail about the Science Alberta Foundation and its projects: “La transhumance de la science: Le developpment d’un reseau des expositions itinerantesConference”, Proceedings of the PRELUDE conference, 1990, Namur Au-dela de l’oueil nu, Alliage No. 15, Nice, 1992 Science des villes, science des champs, AMCSTI/Infos printemps 1993Priming the Pump: Building a Science Network in Alberta, in: “La Science en Scène”, PENS, Paris 1996. The Curator’s New Clothes: re-inventing the role of the museum professional, Muse magazine, Fall 1993
Network in Alberta, in: La Science en Scene, PENS, Paris 1996
Described by Drew Ann Wake and Judy Mitchell in their internal report to the Ontario Science Centre, 1989
Going Public, in Planning Science Museums for the New Europe, UNESCO/the National Technical Museum Prague, Paris 1993
Notably in: Falk, J. and Dierking, L.: The Museum Experience. Washington, Whalesback Books; 1992
This description of the Mine Games exhibition has been excerpted from the article Mine Games, which appeared in: “La Revue”, the Arts et Metiers Museum in French, No. 10, March 1995
Carse, R.: Games and Infinite Games
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© 2004 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Bradburne, J.M. (2004). Setting the Stage for Interaction. In: Hagebölling, H. (eds) Interactive Dramaturgies. X.media.publishing. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-18663-9_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-18663-9_8
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-62231-1
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