Stages of Experience: Theatrical Connections between the Seven Stages of Experience and Historical Museums

Historical attractions and sites are increasingly theorizing ways to craft experiences for their guests and shape what society remembers about the past. Sandra Richards observes in her research about Ghana’s historical tourism that “the project of memory, upon which travel to historical sites or heritage tourism is built, raises other issues familiar to theater scholars. Like theater, memory is constructed through processes of selecting, repeating, forgetting—willfully as well as unconsciously—and reassembling narratives”.¹ Richards’s analysis of African slave castle tourism and how these sites construct memory may also be applied to other types of educational and commercial enterprises devoted to memorializing past traumas. With society’s increasing demand for entertainment, museums are searching for new ways to present information dynamically. Some museums offer experiences that are performance-oriented and immersive. The Titanic Museum and Attraction in Branson, Missouri, implements theatrical techniques, offering tourists an entertaining, emotional, and informative experience. Throughout the process of visiting the museum, guests form memories that persist long after the experience ends.

One method in the formation of memory was constructed by Disney designers. The method, called the 7 Stages of Experience, was created for the development of attractions and rides throughout their many parks. This method breaks down how an individual’s judgment and experience are formed, allowing architects to stage a person’s journey in a specifically organized direction. When analyzed, the 7 Stages of Experience can be applied to the Titanic Museum. The museum has carefully cultivated guest involvement, beginning with guests receiving a unique boarding pass representing a real passenger. By incorporating hands-on activities and interaction with a cast of characters, tourists receive a true commercial performance experience, immersing themselves in the stories of their passenger, as well as those around them. By tracing a visitor’s journey through the Titanic Museum and Attraction, this paper dissects how the 7 Stages of Experience can be implemented within both commercial theatre and historical museums.

At their core, historical museums and commercial theatres are built upon similar foundations. In the first chapter of their book Stage Money, Tim Donahue and Jim Patterson list some of the characteristics of commercial theatre: “1) Typically formed as a partnership or company to produce one play only and then disband. 2) A production is often planned as an open-ended run, playing for as long as ticket sales support it. 3) Box office results determine if a show runs. 4) Profits for investors are taxable; losses are deductible for the most part.”² Using this definition as a foundation upon which commercial theatre is built, one could compare it to the business structure of a museum.

Museums are constructed to accommodate the partnership of the owners with artifact collectors to share a specific incident in history. For example, the Titanic Museum collaborates with private collectors and the Titanic Historical Society to present the stories of passengers and crew members who were on board the ship. Museums are also produced to withstand long periods of time. As long as admission sales or donations are able to sustain life within the business, the museum remains open. In a similar realm, if an exhibit is able to boost the museum’s ticket sales, that exhibit will remain for a longer duration; if not, plans are made to present a new exhibit with intent to further profit. Profits from a museum are taxed accordingly and any losses are considered to be primarily deductible. Donations made by private collectors are also considered a deduction in taxes.

At their core, however, both commercial theatre and museums aim to attract the masses. Perhaps, then, it is the responsibility of theatres and museums to provide a lasting experience for their guests in order to achieve commercial gain. With the current generational addiction to technology and immediate results, customers are expecting an expedited experience. Forrester Research and Consulting, a company specializing in the research of rapidly changing trends in customer service, suggests that companies begin reconstructing customer experience by measuring tactics and how well they are received, engaging with customers and...