Theatre, artefact and hard-line history intersect at Elizabeth Farm, home to
the oldest Euro dwelling in Australia. The place had 2 centuries of history
ripped out of it in the early to mid 1980s (in the sense that it was
'restored') leaving little more than a pencil outline, a lot of bluff and
banality dressed as cultural heritage. Theatre seemed the only way to go, so
rather than simply gathering disparate 'old things' and plonking them in
rooms and deceiving ourselves and our patrons that history is simply a
well-conceived series of interiors, we decided to treat the empty place as a
theatre set. Like the stage we installed just enough elements to keep the
place from appearing deserted but not too much that it would be misread as a
little reconstruction. Everything brought to the place was understood as a
tool, aimed at interpretation, or a catalyst to making any number of
connections to the history and significance of the place.

Gary Crockett
Curator
Elizabeth Farm
Sydney Australia
a property of the Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales
www.hht.nsw.gov.au




----- Original Message -----
From: "Deb Hanselman" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, December 16, 2000 8:24 AM
Subject: Re: Theatre


> I'm guilty, although technically now I do work for a museum
> association.
>
> On 15 Dec 00, at 14:10, Laura Pelton-Sweet wrote:
>
> ><[log in to unmask]> writes:
> >> As a former "theatre person" I would suggest checking with
> theatrical
> >> supply houses.
>
> I am a former theatre person myself, and am curious to hear how
> many other people have made the transition from the world of
> drama to the world of museums.
>
> Laura
>
>
> --
> Laura M. Pelton Sweet
> Designer, Consultant
> Lunar Tides Creative Design
> Harvest Moon Originals
> --
>
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> Deborah M. Hanselman
> Meetings and Marketing Manager
> American Institute for Conservation
> of Historic & Artistic Works (AIC)
> 1717 K Street NW, Suite 200
> Washington, DC 20006
>
> phone: 202-452-9545 ext 16
> fax: 202-452-9328
> http://aic.stanford.edu
>
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>
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Museum-L" (without the quotes).
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If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).