Dramatically Engage With History Through Site-Specific Plays

Public History Practitioner Talk by Playwright and Director Patrick Gabridge

It's not always a simple task to get visitors to museums and historic sites to take deep dives into history. One effective (and fun) solution is to use carefully-crafted productions of plays to dramatically bring the people and stories from history to life. Patrick Gabridge is a playwright and theater producer who has been creating new site-specific plays at sites across New England. His company, Plays in Place, has used these plays to explore slavery, abolition, woman suffrage, and the American Revolution, with a focus on people whose stories and perspectives have been ignored or deliberately obscured. They have created work for the National Park Service, Boston's Old North Church, Boston's Old State House/Revolutionary Spaces, Old South Meeting House, Mount Auburn Cemetery, Historic Northampton, Historic Deerfield, and the Old New-Gate Prison & Copper Mine, among others. Join us to hear Patrick Gabridge speak about the process and strategies he and Place in Place use to change the way audiences perceive the history of our nation.

PATRICK GABRIDGE (playwright) is the founder and producing artistic director of Plays in Place, and with Plays in Place has created new site-specific plays for many museums and historic sites, including Mount Auburn Cemetery, Boston’s Old State House, Historic Northampton, and Old North Church. He has written more than two dozen historical plays, along with many contemporary plays that have received productions around the world (17 countries and all 50 states). He’s also a novelist, screenwriter, and writer of audio plays. Patrick lives in Northampton, MA, and when he isn't making plays, he's busy renovating his barn into a rehearsal space or planting vegetables. Recent Awards for Place in Place include the Leadership in History Award from the American Association for State & Local History and the Excellent in Consulting Award from the National Council on Public History.

Presented by the UMass Amherst Public History Program with support from the Dr. Charles K. Hyde Visiting Practitioners Program.

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