Drama expert Stephanie Jenkins argues that students truly engage with the past when they learn to care about the people in it. Her solution is museum theatre, a dynamic method where performers breathe life into historical narratives right where they happened. In one powerful example set in South Africa’s KwaMuhle Museum, actors portrayed real citizens oppressed by apartheid’s brutal pass laws. During the demonstration, students held replica passbooks and listened to recorded testimonies from people who had stood in those same rooms decades earlier. The building once housed the Native Administration Department, where Black South Africans endured humiliating waits for permission documents. By placing students inside the story, surrounded by original artifacts, this approach replaces rote memorization with raw empathy. It proves that when history is given a voice and a face, it becomes an unforgettable, human experience that resonates today.
The Conversation
