The role of and conditions for women in the past has proved to be an aspect which is frequently returned to. This goes beyond the obvious aspects of restrictive clothing and dangerous make-up to such aspects as labour and pay, contraception, child birth and menstruation. This has done much to disprove the fallacy that topics such as these, sickness, death or domestic violence can never be tackled in live interpretation. We would never seek to show violence towards women or the effects of plague, but someone in role can discuss such aspects in their work situation or bedchamber and this can be developed through interaction with visitors who will have their own ideas and questions. Such questioning shows a second strength of live interpretation over other forms of visual or oral communication. The interaction between the visitor and interpreter allows for subtle modifications of the type of information that can be given in answer to a question and the conversation that develops subsequently will be suited to the specific needs of an individual.
One potential problem of live interpretation is that a visitor who is unprepared for meeting role-playing 'performers', who are unable to speak about events after the period they are portraying, may feel confused or even intimidated. For this reason all the North American sites have an orientation centre through which the visitor must pass before entering the site proper. Here, using a slide-tape presentation and preliminary introduction by staff, the visitor is told what to expect and how to make the most of the experience.
This has not been done at most British sites with the result that at the Museum of the Moving Image the decision was taken in early 1990 to add "a display panel to its ticketing area, introducing the visitor to the actor\guides they will encounter inside". [9] This is obviously only a partial answer to the problem and does not surmount the problem of the interpreter being unable to answer questions which post-date his or her 'supposed' period. This criticism has indeed been made of Plimoth Plantation "Because the "time travel" approach allows for no anachronistic questioning about life after 1628, the past is severed from the present. The visitor is discouraged from questioning how social and material conditions in the Plimoth colony contributed to the social and material conditions we face in the present". [10] For these reasons HRW has pioneered a technique of what we call 'Red Shirting'. At each event between one quarter and a fifth of the group will not be performing, but instead will be wearing modern clothes with a distinctive 'Tee' or sweat shirt. Their role is to meet every visitor as they arrive, explain how the interpretation works and offer them a variety of ways of approaching it, perhaps following a particular role or character or stationing themselves in a specific room. Many visitors like the idea of being a modern 'ghost' following and observing without having to become drawn into the activities. To prevent the experience becoming completely passive, the Red Shirters can also act as a catalyst for interaction between interpreters and visitors, provide a running commentary in certain situations, drawing parallels between historical and modern processes. The variations are endless and of course can be tailored to suit a particular age group or subject of interest.
One additional potential barrier to an understanding of the event is the language used. At Plimoth Plantation Dr Martyn Wakelin of Royal Holloway and Bedford New College prepared carefully researched language profiles for each person in the village. These profiles were based on early seventeenth century speech patterns and vocabulary and were varied to suit the regional origins of each of the colonists in addition to reflecting education and social class. Although we met Dr Wakelin and discussed the possibility of developing similar profiles, the peripatetic nature of the group and resistance by visitors to radically different speech patterns meant that we decided to employ a simplified system based on contemporary vocabulary. This was sufficient to evoke the period without becoming overly complex or developing into poor Shakespearian English. It is not impossible that the group may change the approach we take especially in the light of work at Clarke Hall where Sue Morton and her staff use period language as an important part of the learning experience.
Although important, the spoken word is not the only way in which live interpretation communicates, uniquely it uses all the senses "visitors can learn about the past from, touch, smell, sounds and taste. If an exhibit exercises more than one sense the participant will have a greater chance of remembering what he or she learned" [10] A visitor walking into a site using live interpretation will have an initial experience of smell, not the polish and age of a conventional display, but wood smoke, bread, herbs underfoot, perhaps even sweat. These are not the artificial products of a scientist's test tube, but real smells the product of cooking and hard work. The possibilities are endless,but oddly the fact that a house has a fire burning and food being cooked frequently brings the comment from the visitor that "this house is alive".
In an interpretation following this model visitors find themselves in a property very different from the normal 'stately home'. Barriers have been removed and routes regulating flow abandoned, just like a real house. They find that the combination of real and replica objects means that they can handle many of the items which would normally only be seen in a case or room setting. The opportunity is offered to pick up drinking vessels, to play with games or look under beds. Obviously distinction must be drawn between what is 'real' and what is replica. Here the role of the Red Shirter is vital because an interpreter would have to support the view that an object was what it appeared to be. One interesting result of this is the revelation for many visitors that objects which they are used to seeing in museums as tarnished or dull were shining or bright when new and that the "room settings" they are familiar with do not represent the way in which the original user saw them.
Among the most common criticism of the whole approach is the idea that somehow live interpretation promises a return to the past. Indeed Jay Anderson, author of Time Machines, one of the most well known exponents of "living history" has said "that the past is just around the corner". No form of interpretation can promise a return to the past, what it can do is offer an interpretation of a period in time. The point is always clearly made in leaflets or press releases given out by the group and by the Red Shirters that what is portrayed is what it might have been like, not what it was like. That does not mean that projects should not depend upon historical research or that it excuses giving a false impression of the past. Life in the past was not a comfortable romp in Merry England for the bulk of the population; it was frequently tedious and fraught with dangers we are no longer familiar with. Over the past five years HRW has demonstrated that with the right approach these aspects of the past can be can be tackled. The past does not have to be 'sanitised' and, despite some doubts about showing the mundane, the low key approach actually encourages visitors to question interpreters about other aspects of life rather than being seduced by the simple appeal of crafts. In this way the experience has proved to be akin to reading a book rather than the passive experience of watching a play or television. It is a first rather than a second hand experience which can involve those involved allowing "visitor participation, either psychological or actual" [11], allowing them to become involved in the process and to chose what they learn. Despite the view of at least one American curator that "Few visitors are equipped or disposed to question what they see and any unusual custom or activity is apt to interest them" [12] the visitors to our events have proved that they are perfectly able to tell the phoney from the real. And even though some museum professionals may savour well-crafted exhibit labels "most Americans [and Britons] prefer to watch and talk with historical interpreters than read labels" making the study of history into "an active rather than passive pursuit". [13]
Of course to be of any value the three dimensional view of the past must be based on research and sound judgement, in exactly the same way as any other form of interpretation. It can never offer a view which is one hundred per cent accurate but it does not have to end up "idealizing the past and misinterpreting the present" if the project has "a solid scholarly base and strong leadership". [14]
Ultimately what Living History can do is offer an a view of the past which is more powerful than the best caption, film, or computer interactive. The public get sights, sounds, smell and even touch as a stimulus to understanding and memory. Most importantly they are presented with a form of history that is accessible, understandable and presented at a personal level. Not just "Kings, Queens and Battles".
NOTES
(1) Kennon Kay, W Keep It Alive! Tips on Living History Demonstrations, Washington D.C.: National Park Service, 1970 Bnngeus, N, 'Artur Hazehus and the Nordic Aluseum', Ethrologia Scandinavia,1974, No 5, p.10
(3) Cited in Alexander. E P. Museums in Motion, Nashville, American Association ot State and Local History, 1979, p.92
(4) Tilden, F, Interpreting Our Heritage, Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press. 1957; revised edition 1967, p.69
(5) Leaflet, The Way We Were. Wigan Pier .(1988)
(6) Neil Potter, quoted in Jane Malcolm-Davies,Keeping it Alive, Museums Journal (March 1990)
(7) Jo Blatti, Ed, Past Meets Present, p75
(8) James Deetz, quoted in Jay Anderson. Time Machines, p49.
(9) Jane Malcolm-Davies,'News in Brief,Museums Journal (May 1990)
(10) Past Meets Present, p73
(11) Edward P Alexander, Museums in Motion, AASLA, (1980) p.200
(12) David Peterson, There is no Living History, 'There are no Time Machines', History News (Sept-Oct 1988),p 29
(13) Warren Leon and Margaret Piat. 'Living History Museums' in Leon and Rosenzweig, History Museums in the United States ,p 92
(14) ibid .p83
GLOSSARY OF SIMPLE DEFINITIONS
With thanks to Jay Anderson
FIRST PERSON INTERPRETATION
An approach in which the interpreter pretends that they are living in the past and adopt.the appropriate point of view. This includes wearing appropriate clothing, using period language and remaining in-role even when visitors are no longer present.
LIVE INTERPRETATION
Using people to simulate life in another time for the purpose of interpretation, education or research. LIVE INTERPRETATION
A technique which aims to place the historical objects in their functional context against the background of the human environment
MUSEUM QUALITY
A term used to describe historically accurate reproductions of original artefacts. To avoid them becoming "fakes' they should be indelibly marked to distinguish them from real objects even if this compromises accuracy.
PERIOD CLOTHING
Historically accurate reproduction clothing- quite distinct from costume
ROLE
Given station in a hierarchy or social structure
STATIONING
The assignment of an interpreter to a particular post or location-such as a work place or area linked to their role
THIRD PERSON INTERPRETATION
An approach in which the interpreters dress and act as if they were living in the past, but do not adopt historical roles. They speak to visitors as one twentieth century person to another
THEATRE -IN-EDUCATION
The use of drama for educational purposes not necessarily with a historical basis.
This is a revised version of an article first reproduced in the Journal of the Social History Curators Group, Vol 19, (1992).
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
Alexander, Edward P.
Museums in Motion, Nashville, AASLH :1987
Andersen, Jay
Time Machines, Nashville AASLH: 1984
Anderson, Jay
The Living History Sourcebook, Nashville: AASLH, 1985
Blatti, Jo ed.
Past Meets Present, Washington, Smithsonian Institution Press, 1987
Leon, Warren and Margaret Piaz
'Living History Museums" in Leon and Rosenzweig
History Museums in the United States pp 64-97.
Leon, Warren and Roy Rosenzweig eds.
History Museums in the United States: A Critical Assessment. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1989
Lowenthal, David
The Past is a Foreign Country Cambridge; Cambridge University Press, 1985
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