Theatre: Under Appreciated or A Lost Cause?
The theatre is absolutely universal, theatre exists within every society in the world, in some form, and as human beings, we are the only animal species that creates theatre, and by understanding the theatre, it helps us to understand what it means to be a human. The theatre helps you understand how the environment that you live in, shapes what you will become, take for example, my favourite musical Phantom of the Opera, The Phantom grew up in a cold, unloving environment, he was kept in a cage as an attraction for others, with nobody caring about him or his well being, So The Phantom, then grows into a cold, controlling, angry and manipulative person because of this. Personally this show has taught me a lot about how to treat others and how to behave around others, as nobody wants to turn into The Phantom, right? (actually, this is a total lie, I’d love to be The Phantom, who wouldn’t though?). It has also taught me to question other peoples intentions though, as when looking at the relationship between the Phantom and Christine, you have to objectively ask yourself whether The Phantom truly does love Christine or whether he just loves controlling her, as if the Phantom truly loved Christine, would he behave how he does towards her in Act Two of the Musical.
CREATIVITY and SELF-EXPRESSION, theatre undeniably helps to improve our creativity in all aspects, from the wardrobe department, the set designers, the technical team, the composers, the orchestra to the stage performers themselves, Every aspect of the theatre requires some degree of creativity, so having the chance to witness this or even to be a part of this, is absolutely awe inspiring, as the amount of creative energy behind a piece of theatre is immense right from the start. Theatre is also perhaps the ultimate self expression, when watching a play, the lines that you hear the performer delivering is the playwrights self expression, the way that the performer delivers the lines is the performers form of self-expression. The theatre teaches us how to communicate our thoughts and feelings more effectively with others through a variety of mediums, it helps us to improve our relationships with others.
I truly believe that the theatre and my love of it has helped to make me a better person, through the wisdom that it has to offer, and also, I can personally think of no bad role models that have come from the theatre world, stars of the theatre world, very rarely get caught up in the same sort of things that the main stream celebrities get caught up in, but also, theatre performers have a work ethic and determination like no other, as it really does take A LOT to break out and make it in the theatre world. So also from that perspective introducing children to theatre can give them nothing but positivity, from enhancing their ability to self express, enhancing their creativity to giving them positive life role models.
So, to wrap this up, is the theatre a lost cause? I personally, think not, however, after reading the arguments above, only you can make your mind up on this one.
As always, thank you for reading.
Beth-Marie x
Hell no, you're not tough if you're not flower puff. Lovie all the way.