I hold degrees in English and theatre. In the past I have written several plays (two have had productions) I have not had anything published yet. I give you this background to set the stage for a project I have been working on.
I currently live and teach on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in North Dakota. I am non-native, but due to my background I have been approached with a very prestegious task. I'v been asked to write a play about Sitting Bull. Over the past two years I have been researching this project and creating the story outline.
I am now gathering my scraps of ideas and dialogue and putting together my first draft. This is where I have encountered my dilema. In the play, I use as many of Sitting Bull's actual words as possible. I am working with a friend who is translating the English translation back into the Lakota spoken during Sitting Bull's time. Sitting Bull's son, Crow Foot, act as the translato. It is very important to the Dakota/Lakota people to keep the language alive and I want to honor this in the play. This is not my problem.
One of the main characters, David Johnson, is completely fictional. His storyline never happened. He is a device I am using in order to tell Sitting Bull's story. My dilema is this. I would like to use quotes made by people who knew Sitting Bull. I want to use some of this as part of David's dialogue. Is this ethical? I know historical dramas often stretch the truth, but I am trying to stay as real as I can.
So, is putting someone else's true words in the mouth of my character wrong? Is there a right way to do it?
Thank you for your time. I appreciate any help.
P.S. I aplogize in advance for any typos, my head is fuzzy froma cold.
I currently live and teach on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in North Dakota. I am non-native, but due to my background I have been approached with a very prestegious task. I'v been asked to write a play about Sitting Bull. Over the past two years I have been researching this project and creating the story outline.
I am now gathering my scraps of ideas and dialogue and putting together my first draft. This is where I have encountered my dilema. In the play, I use as many of Sitting Bull's actual words as possible. I am working with a friend who is translating the English translation back into the Lakota spoken during Sitting Bull's time. Sitting Bull's son, Crow Foot, act as the translato. It is very important to the Dakota/Lakota people to keep the language alive and I want to honor this in the play. This is not my problem.
One of the main characters, David Johnson, is completely fictional. His storyline never happened. He is a device I am using in order to tell Sitting Bull's story. My dilema is this. I would like to use quotes made by people who knew Sitting Bull. I want to use some of this as part of David's dialogue. Is this ethical? I know historical dramas often stretch the truth, but I am trying to stay as real as I can.
So, is putting someone else's true words in the mouth of my character wrong? Is there a right way to do it?
Thank you for your time. I appreciate any help.
P.S. I aplogize in advance for any typos, my head is fuzzy froma cold.
