During the break, Isobel, Alex and I met up to discuss our progress and determine the next steps for completing our work.

The first thing that we discussed was the process of interviewing people involved in the current restoration. We decided to reach out to our tour guide from week 2, Michelle, as we had already had some contact with her, and we felt sure that she was knowledgeable about the history of the theatre and the current project. This would mean that we could include a form of spoken history about the theatre’s past to narrate and tie into our collected research about the first decade in the Capitol’s life, and would also bring in an oral history element, whereby she would speak about the present-day life of the Capitol, potentially for the benefit of future generations. We also thought that she might be able to connect us to other people involved (eg. Construction workers) who might have interesting information and stories for us.

The problem with this, however, was that there wouldn’t really be enough time to properly prepare and interview Michelle before the due date for assignment 2. Instead, we decided to contact her and prepare an interview for use in another work for later in the semester, and focus on the 1924 opening of the Capitol for this assignment.

The next question, then, was how we make our work an oral history rather than a slide show or collage about the past. I believe that by drawing on examples of oral history, even if we present them visually and allude to an element of conversation between the historical subjects and ourselves/another interviewer, we are fulfilling my understanding of the term oral history: an act of communicating personal stories of historical value to tell and preserve experiences.