A backstage look at a near-fiasco of ethnographic access to musical theatre organisations

Purpose This study explores the trajectory and challenges faced by a doctoral researcher in her successive attempts to gain access for conducting an ethnography within the production or organisation of a musical theatre performance. Contemplating the four unsuccessful access attempts and the final, triumphant one, we ponder the reasons and impediments for conducting research within this particular context. We operate under the premise that research access possesses a relational characteristic, contingent upon the relationships established between the researcher, the researched, potential informants and the dynamics of the field as a whole. Design/methodology/approach This is an exploratory and qualitative study, and the empirical research is based on an ethnographic-inspired case study of the organisation/production of a musical theatre play in São Paulo, SP, Brazil, which we have given the pseudonym MusiCom. Findings The study contributes by allowing us to affirm that access is intertwined with at least two aspects: the peculiarities of the organisation itself and the characteristics or context in which it exists or is constructed, and the identity of the researcher, developed during the formal access negotiations through the relationships formed between her and the subjects during the dynamics of the field. Originality/value Our contribution reinforces the numerous challenges posed to researchers when conducting ethnographies and illustrates how access relies not solely on the skills, aptitudes and learning of the researchers.