Evidence and Documentation, by Joseph Donohue

Documenting history is a labor of love for those who choose to embark on that journey and can be both inspirational, and educational. From stories of American history where soldiers fought valiantly for freedom, or something as simple as discovering an authentic transcript of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer’s Night Dream; documenting history provides insight into the past. Although it may not be considered important as most areas of history by certain scholars, theatre historiography is an area that is thriving. Joseph Donohue, author of “Evidence and Documentation,” believes that the study of theatre history is a young discipline. However attention must be paid to scholar’s methods, theory and practice.

In “Evidence and Documentation” Donohue sets out to prove that the theatre scholar’s attempt at citing evidence and proper documentation is severely problematic because the notion of what evidence and documentation means is flawed. Donohue builds his argument by providing the reader with definitions of evidence and documentation and how most scholars use these definitions. Donohue then provides reasoning why these definitions are questionable. Documentation, Donohue implies, is general information until it is used in a way that seeks to create new knowledge or to change the reader’s perception on what is already learned. Donohue negates the broad definitions of these two terms and provides what he believes to be very effective definitions of evidence and documentations. He states that, “the ultimate question is always what the scholar who uses it does with it…the question is finally one that has to do with interpretation-with history” (Donohue 181). Continuing to strengthen his argument, Donohue brings to light the authority of certai...

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...fulness and with great accuracy. If the scholar remains accountable for all four of these obligations then Donohue believes that historians as a whole will be very effective scholars.

Although some points of Donohue’s argument are dated and reflect the feelings of the time the article was published in, his argument as a whole is very effective. If scholars want the history of theatre to be as precise art as possible, they should follow Donahue’s suggestion and examine how a conclusion is formed. Building on previous groundwork and working up from that, scholar’s jobs, while pleasurable, should remain a challenge, but in the end should prove to be a very precise and meticulous art.

Works Cited

Donohue, Joseph. “Evidence and Documentation.” Interpreting the Theatrical Past.

Ed. Thomas Postlewait & Bruce A. McConachie. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1989