Why theatre?


A few years ago, I wrote some theatre education articles for another website. I'll gradually transfer them over here for whoever happens to be interested. Here's the first:




Every city needs a theatre district.

With so many forms of media in existence, what’s the point of continuing to do theatre? After all, theatre is old enough for Sophocles to have taken part. Ancient Greece had no television, movies, CDs, iPods, or anything of the sort to keep them entertained. They didn’t even have the printing press back in the day.

It’s clear why theatre appealed to people in ancient times. Their options for artistic recreation were limited. But why do we continue thousands of years later?

Just because something is old doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with it. Theatre can do things no other medium can.

Theatre gives you a live performance -- an experience shared with a group of strangers both in the audience and onstage. For the theatre-makers, preparing for a live performance cultivates a different type of discipline than movies or television: more memorization, adapting a fixed space to suit the production’s needs, and making sure all technical elements are ready to go in sequence and perfectly timed -- not just for a scene, but the whole show -- plus more.

I’m not saying TV and movies are bad, simply that they have different strengths and weaknesses.

Sure, a movie can move around from place to place and shoot in a wide variety of locations, and that’s great. But sometimes working with strict limitations inspire additional creativity.

If a play chooses to rely on spectacle, it’s not as straightforward as finding an exotic location or adding in some CGI effects. There’s little room for error during a live performance, and weak acting is much more annoying in a live performance. For musicals, theatrical performers need to sing and dance and act all at the same time. Usually, a film musical records the songs in a studio, then shoots the physical performance, and edits them together.

A good play is a different sort of accomplishment than a good movie or TV show. It impresses and awes the audience in its own, unique ways (and in many more ways than I’ve listed here). There's nothing redundant about it. Theatre will remain relevant as long as people appreciate it.