Two worlds of documentary theatre
Two worlds of documentary theatre

Summary/Abstract: Based on examples from contemporary Slovak drama to the year 2011, the author describes three fundamental groups of documentary drama. The first group of plays has its dramatic imagery created from highly authentic source material, which might include non-fiction works. The second of the three groups includes plays based on a collection of documentary texts and source materials, e.g. newspaper articles and interviews with witnesses assembled into a certain story. The third group consists of texts which revive the past through the prism of individual or collective memory, preferring their own viewpoint or memories. Russian documentary drama, including verbatim theatre, stands apart as a separate group. The most famous projects connect the present with a particular event depicted by interviews and articles; another group consists of dramatic productions which comment on and assess the past through documentary materials (film materials, speeches and songs) in direct confrontation with the contemporary world. Many of them have acquired a strong political undertone.

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