Performing LBGTQ+ History
Performing LGBTQ+ History (TPST 242) explored creative approaches to the theatrical adaptation and embodiment of historical LGBTQ+ materials. Students were invited to serve as artist-investigators who research, adapt, and perform in short theater works born verbatim from the oral histories and archival documents of real-world LGBTQ+ activists, change-makers, and allies. Interview transcripts, letters, video recordings, newspaper coverage, diaries, and more served as source material for short performances seeking to give voice to the many who have fought for queer justice at Georgetown, in the United States, and around the world. Students engaged with a range of core dramatic texts and primary source materials, harnessing the documentary theater model (also called verbatim theater, docudrama, ethnodrama) to illuminate our intersectional humanities in innovative and enrapturing ways. Primary assignments included student-led research projects, live interviews and transcriptions, monologue-making, core text analysis, and reflection papers. A “Performer Track” and a “Writer/Director Track” was offered, allowing students to choose to engage with the material in a manner most comfortable and fruitful for them. This course culminated in a sharing of works created over the course of the semester. This class was suitable for students with considerable performance experience and for beginners. This course was taught by Michael T. Williams and Sivagami “Shiva” Subbaraman as a Doyle Seminar in spring 2022. Please refer to the current course catalog for an up-to-date description of the course.
