Kuinka draama syntyy -elokuva, teatteriesitys ja historiantutkimus

Authors

• Hanna Korsberg

Abstract

This paper discusses the use of a documentary film as a source material for theatre history. The central case study analyses A Drama is Born (Kuinka drama syntyy), directed by Jack Witikka and Sol Worth in 1957. This film presents the making of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot at the Finnish National Theatre, which premiered on the 5th of October 1954. The paper follows the process of an event turning into an object, and at the same time I explore how the film preserves and traces material conditions of the theatre production: the physicality of the actors, their moving bodies, their position on the stage and the sound of their voices. Based on my research, I argue that it is possible to use film as a source for theatre history research.