The staged performance of oral history narratives scripted by interpreters/ethnographers has significant potential for instigating social change. Recent articles by Dwight Conquergood and Kristin Langellier provide the basis for merging ethnography, oral history and social action projects. Narratives from a 1984 farm crisis project illustrate this concept of oral history performance as social action. Performance of these farm women's narratives served as (1) therapeutic communication for the farm women; (2) a means of informing the public about the reasons for farmers' failures; (3) a platform for requesting legislative assistance; (4) an expression of personal grief over the depression or suicide of their husbands; (5) an assertion of group spirit; (6) a warning to other farmers; and (7) an escape from reality. It is crucial for the interpreter of oral narratives performed in social contexts to attend to nonverbal and vocal clues of the narrators so the original context and interpretation are maintained in the scripted version. (MHC)