Verbatim Theatre: History and Techniques

Abstract

Theater has always been the mirror reflecting the spirit of the age with which it deals. In other words, if you want to know the history of a certain nation, you have better to resort to its theatre. There, you can become acquainted with this nation’s cultural, political, social, moral and religious heritage. This fact is embodied by verbatim theatre, a new dramatic genre born out of documentary theatre. Verbatim theatre is a theatre necessitated by the need of the late 20th and early 21rst centuries for a dramatic form capable of dealing with the pains, sufferings and disappointments experienced by the people living during the two centuries. From this point, comes the aim behind this research, which is to trace the history and techniques of this new genre of theatre.