Introduction:

Re-enactment in Lighter Dark Tourism: An Exploration of Re-enactor Tour Guides and Their Perspectives on Creating Visitor Experiences

“…As a growing trend at lighter attractions, and even more recently at darker attractions, re-enactments allow for affective and thought-provoking experiences that can engage visitors, nurture a greater sense of appreciation and learning, and potentially reconcile issues of stereotypes and public memory (de Groot, 2016; Jackson & Kidd, 2008; Tschida, 2022). Blending imaginative play with intellectual enrichment, re-enactments are costumed performances delivered with scripted monologs to create broader public interest in history and to help shape public memory (Agnew, 2004, 2020; Caronia, 2014; Quaranta, 2014). At lighter attractions, re-enactments may be staged performances of historical moments delivered by re-enactors as visitors spectate (Peirce & Putnam, 2014), for example, the Gunfight at the O.K.…”

“…Narratives may also be adapted by RTGs to emphasize their historical interests or to respond appropriately to visitor reactions (Bryon, 2012; Potter, 2016). Narratives may be further adapted through playful speculation when historical evidence is limited, which involves a creative approach that acknowledges the gaps in historical research to imagine plausible truths (Caronia, 2014; Chhabra, 2022; Verwort, 2014). Playful speculation is often used to imagine the realities of every-day people often omitted in historical writings and/or what life could have been like for people had tragedy not occurred (Powers Conti, 2022; Verwort, 2014).…”