From (Archival) Page to (Virtual) Stage: The Virtual Vaudeville Prototype

Abstract This article explores the difficulties archivists face in capturing, preserving, and representing performance and other ephemeral or intangible cultural expressions. It also examines the applicability of existing archival theory and practice for reconstructing historical performances in digital environments. Using the Virtual Vaudeville Prototype as a case study, the research considers the efficacy of new media technologies for those who strive to capture performative expressions to redress erasures and silences in the historical record. The article provides brief historical context for vaudeville as a mode of performance at the turn of the twentieth century, discusses the Virtual Vaudeville Prototype and the archival evidence upon which it was built, and considers Virtual Vaudeville as both an evidence-based project fashioned from archival research and as an archival record in its own right.