In this reading Pearson and Shanks present to us the comparisons between theatre and archaeology. ‘Performance and archaeology are social practices, or modes of cultural production,’ (Pearson, Shanks, 2001, 53) within this they are both connected to art, and create art forms which attract spectators through the sensorium produced by them. Neither performance nor archaeology would not have been created without the fragments that were preserved for our history and of us as spectators to enjoy and experience. From these fragments we learn how important documentation is for both performance and archaeology as other generations can gain knowledge about our history. The most interesting comparison Pearson and Shanks drew upon was ‘social actors are as much as artefact as any other material cultural form’ (Pearson, Shanks, 2001, 54) due to the history performance can contain and how the actors portray this history.

Works cited.

Pearson, P. and Michael, S. (2001) Theatre/ Archaeology. London: Routledge.

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