I have been following this thread with interest because I actually
started my museum career many, many years ago at Colonial Williamsburg
as a "Character Interpreter".

I consider an actor as anyone who portrays another person to others -
with or without a script, contemporary or historical, with an audience
or in front of a camera.

Reenacting certainly can involve acting but it also involves a deeper
knowledge and responsibility for an historical impression - not only
presentng a person of the past, but extensive knowledge of clothing,
material culture, foodways, weapons, etc. Sure, some reenactors are in
it for the party, but many love the immersion into the past - so much
of their pursuit of this is deeply personal and not just performance
oriented (a great read is, "Confederates in the Attic" by Tony
Horowitz).

One approach is not necessarily better than the other. So much of it
really depends on the depth of research and how it is applied - and on
emphasizing continual improvement in what is programtically presented.
Just giving folks costumes and scripts to memorize and cranking
visitors past them every ten minutes is a bad approach, as well as
just giving them a costume and letting say whatever they wish. I have
also found that having another interpreter there, who can bridge
between the person of the past and present time visitors is very
useful because often visitors will have modern questions that a living
history person cannot answer unless they break character.

Whether you can sneak this sort of program through on an arts grant
rather than a history grant is interesting. I would think that if you
were recreacting an historical theater peice you would have a chance,
but to support a history museum program...well, good luck!

By the way, I heard about the situation about the loss of history
funding in New Jersey on another list. Please do post some sort of way
that folks on the museum-L list can write letters or sign petitions to
support the restoration of funding by the state.

Cheers!
Dave

David Harvey
Conservator
Los Angeles, California

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