Kathleen Gallagher
Drama and the Production of Knowledge: Respectful Forgeries and Faithful Betrayals:

Live performance offers a complex way to "see" research:
1) What are the artistic limits of performed ethnographies?
2) How does the stage "instruct"?
3) What are the scientific, artistic, and pedagogic risks/gains?

There are ethical, scientific, and artistic questions to ponder as the discipline of drama/theatre is increasingly exploited in the world of qualitative research. What makes performed research "good", "innovative" or "useful"? As a drama educator, I have suggested that I want to raise questions about the limits of theatrical devices in qualitative research, the dangers of didactic theatre, and the power of theatre for learning when the stage "instructs".  What are the productive risks involved in this kind of work?  The pedagogical, political, and ethical investments of these artful ethnographic research texts beg many pressing questions. Performance moves us into the territory of pleasure, politics, desire and the senses. What are the implications for knowledge production? I will begin by suggesting that arts-based representations of research be seen as "respectful forgeries" or "faithful betrayals".