The UK’s long established and much celebrated performing arts tradition is under-represented within the museum sector. Existing curatorial approaches to the permanent display of the national performance collections struggle to convey the dynamism of the performing arts and the embodied experiences of performers. Examples of performing arts exhibitions and museums in other parts of the world have shown how a multi-sensory and participatory interpretation approach can enhance visitors’ understandings of performing arts history. However, funding and resource limitations pose barriers to the implementation of such methods in the UK. My research seeks to overcome this by creating a framework for how museums can use self-guided re-performance based interpretation to evoke the bodily and spatial physicality of historic performance experiences.

As part of my research I have designed an interpretation intervention for The Tiny World of Toy Theatre exhibition at Pickford’s House, Derby. The interpretation intervention aims to enable visitors to have an embodied engagement with the experience of performing as the pantomime character of Harlequin. The interpretation uses a movement score and tactile objects to invite playful exploration of the exhibition content and context, challenging traditional stereotypes about permissible behaviour in the museum.