A Variety of Reasons (Dan Bradley)
People attend theater for a variety of different reasons. Some are looking for an escape from reality. No matter what they have to put up with in their everyday lives, they can walk into a theater and disappear into a far away world for a couple of hours. People enjoy being able to picture themselves in someone else’s life. Sometimes it is in a far away fantasy world. But at other times it is in a fairly real world situation but just one that is far from the viewer’s scope of life experience. Then there are others, like myself, who go to the theater more for entertainment purposes than anything. I go not to be transported to some fictional reality, but to see an enjoyable story. Another reason that I go to the theater is that theater is not something I am good at. I always enjoy watching someone do something that they are good at, particularly if I am not as well skilled in that area. It is an opportunity to watch others do what they do well.
Written by Dan Bradley - February 13, 2007
Posted by Kirk Andrew Everist
posted by Kirk Andrew Everist @ 10:53 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Do you think it makes a difference if the story is realistic or mostly fantasy? It is my opinion that it is easier to escape, watching a more realistic show. To me, the fantasies are more for entertainment purposes. You also wrote that you enjoy going, because you like to watch other people do something that they are good at doing. Do you believe that if an actor is very good at acting that he can also use it as a form of escape?
When you say that you go to theatre for entertainment purpose, it might be helpful to first define what entertainment, since it is a very broad concept. Entertainment could mean many different things for many different people, and is therefore an ambiguous term. The truth is that everyone goes to theatre to for entertainment; nobody would go to a play if they didn’t enjoy doing so. The simple answer to what one expects out of Theatre is entertainment. But to give a more specific answer would require one to examine what each individual considers to be entertainment, since that varies widely.
When writing this meditation I did not consider the actor at all. After reading Rebecca's comment however, I can see how acting could be an escape for the actor as well. for the actor it is simply getting to play in an alternate reality, or fantasy, instead of simply watching one. Many people find something that they enjoy and are good at in order to get away from the stress of their everyday life, wheter they use acting or not.
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