Verbatim theater notes

Verbatim theatre is a form of documentary theatre which is based on the spoken words of real people. In its strictest form, verbatim theatre-makers use real people’s words exclusively, and take this testimony from recorded interviews. However, the form is more malleable than this, and writers have frequently combined interview material with invented scenes, or used reported and remembered speech rather than recorded testimony. There is an overlap between verbatim theatre and documentary theatre, and other kinds of fact-based drama, such as testimonial theatre (in which an individual works with a writer to tell their own story) and tribunal theatre (edited from court transcripts). 

Verbatim Theatre gives voice to people who would not normally have a platform.

The process creates dialogue in a way that most playwrights have to manufacture otherwise. The subjects speak naturally, so their dialogue includes all the ums, pauses, slang, regionalisms, repeated words, and other speech mannerisms that happen in conversation.

Finally it is a tool to study the physicality of a specific person or group of people. How do you imitate the gestures, physical stance, and expressions of someone else?

Verbatim Theatre is a great way for students to work on creating a physical character and to hear/analyze natural dialogue.

Verbatim theatre is a form of documented theatre in which plays are constructed from the precise words spoken by people interviewed about a particular event or topic.

The playwright interviews people who are connected to the topic that is the play's focus and then uses their testimony to construct the play. In this way, the playwright seeks to present a degree of objectivity akin to that represented by news reporting. Such plays are focused on politics, disasters, sporting and other social events.

Not a form but a technique: a way of incorporating the words of real people, as spoken in private interview or public record, into drama.