Metaphorical Representations

In the script for Making Gay History: Before Stonewall, the ethnodramatists refer to archive boxes in the stage directions. These archive boxes contain objects and clippings related to each of the people discovered and performed in the play. In the play, each actor will play multiple roles, so the archive boxes and the materials in them help the audience to keep track of the characters and their stories (supported by projections). The use of archive boxes and the stage set which is meant to suggest the rare books and manuscripts room at a library connects to the historical and research processes from which this play was created.

In addition to the practical function of the archive boxes, the images and objects in each box metaphorically represent each character. Remember that a metaphor is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action for which it is not literally applicable. A metaphorical object, symbol, or image then is one that can stand in for a character when they are not present. For example, recording equipment represents the interviewer (Eric Marcus); a flower in the hair represents Marsha P. Johnson.

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