Critical reflections on performing the dramaturgy in research interviews

Performing an interview can be perceived as a straightforward method for eliciting information from interviewees in response to an interviewer's predetermined questions. However, because interviews involve human interaction, the process is often more intricate than merely asking and answering questions. Utilising Goffman's metaphor of social interaction as performance, conducting interviews can be viewed as a form of dramaturgy that unfolds between the interviewer and the interviewee. This research note critically reflects on two interviews, highlighting how nuanced realities may disrupt the ‘theatrical’ performance of the interview, which posits that backstage and frontstage are well-prepared. The first author's performativity, which encompassed aspects that intersect with the interviewer's positionality and status as both an insider and outsider during the interview process, resembles impromptu dramaturgy. This research note concludes that conducting interviews, as a method of knowledge formation, incorporates aspects of the social and cultural context of all the individuals involved.