Why Theatre? (Kevin Birkel)

Subject: Why Theatre?

Upon reflection of my previous experiences, I realized that theatre provided me with the opportunity to get out of the regular activities in my life and enter an imaginary world, one that I could never have experienced. For example, when we watched Shakespeare in love, I felt as though I was actually experiencing life during the 16th century. We see Shakespeare walking through the dirty, crowded streets of London, passing horse- drawn carts on his way to globe theatre. The director filmed the scene for the purpose of adding a considerable level realism making it seem as though Shakespeare’s walk was actually happening in real place. It seems that during a live production on stage, this illusion of setting can be portrayed only to a more limited extent. Props don’t bring the level of realism to the stage that can be captured through film, because it obvious in looking at them that they were crafted solely for the use of setting up the scene. I remember the stampede scene from the “Lion King”. Though admittedly, the artistry involved in producing that scene was amazing, there was no mistaking that the scene was an artistic portrayal of the stampede and not a stampede actually happening whereas in film it is difficult to see the difference between what what is actually happening. Nevertheless, the theatre allows you to experience interactions between the characters in person. As a result, the audience is able to notice distinct details in the actors’ interactions with each, allowing the playwright to add to their complexity. For instance, it can be observed that in many scenes, there are many actors on-stage at once, each engaged in their own interactions. We see this complexity during large gatherings in a play, such as the rehearsal during the opening scene of the Phantom of the Opera, when most of cast gathered on stage for the event. These many intertwining interactions combine to convey certain messages to the audience about what is happening. It would be very difficult to capture this complexity on film, and still have all of these messages noticed by the viewers. Theatre therefore has its own method of bringing the imaginary to life, one very different from film.

Written by Kevin Birkel February 13, 2007
Posted by Kirk Andrew Everist