Theatre: An Expression of Art

Theatre has a culture of its own that many people don’t understand. To those that do understand it, they often make it a very large part of their lives. Plays are sometimes attempting to spread awareness about problems like racism, sexism, homophobia, and other types of persecution. The playwrights write about something that matters to them as their form of expression. These issue plays help our society better function because they cause individuals to realize what is happening and take action. It builds a passion in many groups of people because they realize what is really important to them and that they have the power to make a change. Theatre is a powerful medium for exposing problems because those who understand it know how real and active theatre is in the world.

The main reason people do theatre or even attend a show is to discover themselves. This means they want to come to a self-understanding and fulfilment. Human nature leads us to be original. Theatre is the perfect outlet for people to be original, to express & to understand themselves. This also helps to bridge the gap of our misunderstanding of why we exist. For many people, theatre also gives a purpose for life. Human beings naturally want to express themselves, and theatre is the most expressive art form. “This is why theatre is important: because it presents a reflective vision of a life that is vastly more fascinating and alluring than the one in which we’re stuck.” – Lemoney Snicket.

Live theatre is as relevant today as it was millennia ago when our distant ancestors would gather around the fire to hear stories about the successful mammoth hunt or the evil spirits lurking in the nearby smoking mountain or appreciate the latest emerging musical trend. Today we still gather is groups to hear stories being told, listen to music and put our demons in perspective. As a species we have always turned to theatrical presentations to probe the unknown and explain our fears and concerns in an entertaining and compelling way. Theatre can also simply entertain, but there are few light “entertainments” which don’t include an underlying message. Today we are surrounded by a multitude of options that appear to deliver the same entertainments: film and video, recordings, online streaming in a variety of forms. But nothing can demonstrate theatre’s relevance better than the primal instinct to gather in groups, most often in the dark, and have fellow humans tell us a story is words, action and music.

Theatre is a very different experience from film. They both have their place in the world today. Theatres’ are a thing because no matter how powerful and effective the movie culture may be, there are senses and effects that a movie can never convey the way theatres do. You see, cinema is so powerful and effective, that is true. There are so many ways you can alter the reality and the effect in cinema but there is one thing cinema cannot do; and it is the sense of a live action. Cinema is pre-recorded, perfected by thousand shots of the same scene and editing effects, but what you see in theatre is raw, more organic one might say. You sure can’t make Avengers: Endgame the same in a live event. But, the connection of actor to audience that makes Iago’s speech, or Hamlet’s speech, what it is; is just not the same on film.