It is often said that good fiction requires at least some grounding in fact in order for readers to allow a suspension of disbelief and comfortably engage with the fictional work. When it comes to Documentary Theatre, works are usually created using factual data. But what if your dataset is a fictional database? What if you were to create a work using a database of historical fiction?

This guide is designed to aid in engaging with a database of historical fiction such as the To be continued: The Australian Newspaper Fiction Database to create new works of Documentary Theatre. This guide breaks down the process into steps falling under the following three phases – Writing, Workshopping and Editing – that can be followed to help shape a new work of Documentary Theatre. The guide has been developed through reflexive creative practice and has been informed by, and adapted, from the Documentary Theatre methodology used and outlined by La Transplanisphere theatre company in their work with the Polart Circle.

Phase One – Writing

The first phase of this process is concerned with the initial conceptualisation of your play and the resulting writing of a draft script. Before you begin this phase you should take the time to explore your database of fiction. Figure out how the search engine works and what kind of stories and material are contained within the database. A good approach is just to start random sampling stories and keep going until an idea, concept or theme that you would like to explore further starts to take shape.

The initial database this method was used with, the To be continued: The Australian Newspaper Fiction Database, contains tens of thousands of stories. I started by reading stories at random and was eventually inspired by a ridiculous description a man had written of a female character standing up. This grew into a wider examination of the portrayal of Victorian women and their lives within the stories held in this database. Keep reading until you think you’ve found something you would like to try working with, if you need to start again that is all part of the creative process.    

The second phase looks at taking your initial playscript and workshopping the text, theme and narrative with other creatives to see how you can improve upon this first draft. You will require sufficient collaborators to work with for reading, staging and exploring your play. Bring together a group of theatre performers and other creatives as needed by your individual piece and conduct your own workshop. You may structure your creative workshop however you find constructive but it should ultimately include the following key steps.

7. Provide draft script and resource packet to workshop participants. Before you can host the workshop you need to ensure that the people you are going to work with are familiar with the content of your play. Put together a package that can be sent out to participants before the workshop so that they can familiarise themselves with the work. Be sure to include the script itself, but also include things like any key stories you have drawn from your database and any critical secondary resources that also inform your work. You may also want to write a summarising document or provide links to online documents or videos to help them get familiar with your central theme. Once your participants have had sufficient time to familiarise themselves with the content and theme of your play then organise the actual workshop itself.
8. Workshop the script as written with participants, making notes on potential changes to script that arise. During the actual workshop the first thing you want to do is explore your play as it is now. Start with a group reading of the script and then from here you can use your time to explore physicalisation and character aspects of the script you have written. Get performers to work in breakout groups to block and stage scenes or sections of your play. Given them time to work on this and then come back and present to the group. During this process you are looking to make notes on anything that you find doesn’t work in your script that you can address in phase three, Editing. Look for anything that works well, anything that doesn’t work, any problems and mistakes and any moments that you would like to build further. You could also incorporate a feedback session and further staging time followed by a second round of performances. However, be sure to include a debrief and feedback from participants at the end of your first half of the workshop as others may have made observations you have missed. Just remember that this workshop process is all intended as creative and constructive criticism to aid in refining your first draft into a finalised play.
9. Workshop the theme and improvise narrative with participants informed by both script and resource packet, making notes of potential new outcomes and changes to script. This second portion of your workshop process can be more freeform and is intended to discover new aspects and ways of approaching your central theme. It is generally advised to have this as a second workshop session entirely so as not to overwhelm your participants. Your goal in this session is to explore collaborative creation to see what your workshop participants come up with that might be of use to your play. By this stage everyone is familiar with the content and theme so you want them to work in breakout groups to devise scenes and skits around your central theme and the questions you have used in crafting your script. Give them time and see what they come up with. You can really run this session in any way that you find beneficial to your workshop participants. This could just entail allowing them to freely explore through improvised scenework or you can take a more structured approach. If you want more structure, then consider running exercises or employing the techniques used by collaborative theatre makers such as Ariane Mnouchkine and the Théâtre du Soleil. During presentations be sure to note down any ideas that arise that you want to incorporate into your play. This could be anything from a simple idea to a specific line or an entire scene you would like to incorporate.

Phase Three – Editing

Once you have completed your workshop/s you should hopefully have made a series of notes on how you want to refine your play, so now you get to go back and edit your script.

10. Compile script changes arising from workshops and finalise second draft. Taking the notes you made during your workshops edit and rework your first draft script as needed until you again have a script you are happy with. This may be a few simple edits or may result in extensive rewrites. Your first and second script drafts can be fairly similar or completely different and this is all a natural part of the dramaturgical and playwriting process.
11. Repeat workshopping and revision phases until happy with finalised script. Once you have a second draft script it is now up to you. Do you think you would benefit from another workshopping phase? If so repeat the workshopping and editing phases until you are happy with the version of the script you hold at the end of this process. This could be your second draft or third or fourth, again this is part of the creative process. Stop when you are satisfied with the script (or failing that when you have a script that works as a play, as there are some writers who will never be satisfied and could be trapped in this cycle indefinitely).

At the point where you are content that no further changes are needed with your scripted work then you can consider your play script complete. From this point your play can be produced for public performance. If desired, you could also pursue licensing options for your play with a theatrical licensing agent which would open up your work for further public reproduction by third parties. However, once your script is finished it is ultimately up to you what you do with your new work and you should have a script for a work of Documentary Theatre in hand.