Museum theatre can be one of the most effective and rewarding programs your institution ever undertakes, and it can be one of the most challenging! Some institutions shy away from theatre because it seems too foreign to their mission, while others take it on enthusiastically but with little understanding of its demands. In Exploring Museum Theatre Tessa Bridal, one of the leading experts in the field, helps bridge these gaps and leads you along the path to a successful museum theatre program. She covers the philosophical and historical background including how to find your style, developing your first program, costs and funding, working with actors, directors, and other professionals, technical issues, evaluations, promotion, presenting difficult issues, collaborations, and historic interpretation. Appendixes and a bibliography round out this excellent reference.

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.

Chapter 1 Preface or Dramatic Prologue
Chapter 2
Chapter I: What Is Museum Theatre?
Chapter 3
Chapter II: A Brief History
Chapter 4
Chapter III: The Interpretive Palette
Chapter 5
Chapter IV: Selecting, Writing, and Developing Your First Program
Chapter 6
Chapter V: General Costs and How to Fund Them
Chapter 7
Chapter VI: There's an Actor in our Collections!
Chapter 8
Chapter VII: Technical Requirements and Staff
Chapter 9
Chapter VIII: Evaluations and Visitor Perspective Findings
Chapter 10
Chapter IX: Selling the Idea
Chapter 11
Chapter X: Promoting and Marketing Your Theatre Program
Chapter 12
Chapter XI: How Theatre Has Been Used to Present Difficult Issues
Chapter 13
Chapter XII: Collaborations and Partnerships
Chapter 14
Chapter XIII: Historic Interpretation
Chapter 15 Epilogue: The Future of Museum Theatre
Chapter 16 Appendix A: Average Costs Incurred in Mountain Museum Theatre Productions and Sample Budgets for Small, Medium and Large Programs
Chapter 17 Appendix B: Elements of a Treatment and Sample Treatment
Chapter 18 Appendix C: Sample Contract - Playwright, Director, Actor, Designers
Chapter 19 Appendix D: Position Description - Actor/Presenter
Chapter 20 Appendix E: Audition Form
Chapter 21 Appendix F: Position Description - Theatre/Presentations Coordinator
Chapter 22 Appendix G: Glossary of Commonly Used Theatre Terms
Chapter 23 Bibliography
Chapter 24 About the Author