The concept of theatre as a cultural icon is not lost on most people. It's obviously a large part of the American art industry, as it is in other countries across the globe. But
why has it become ingrained in these cultures as such a significant aspect of how we live? I suppose the bigger question is, why do we care about it so much?
Andy Field, a
British blogger and theatre nerd like myself, argues that theatre is not only meaningful because of
what it does, but also because of the
ways it influences us.
"In less than a fortnight, I have seen...shows that, taken together, were a brilliant exploration of how we watch theatre and why we watch it," he writes. "I've seen a stage littered with unsettling, almost unwatchable little scenes of contorted figures twitching while a beautiful, haunting voice sings out from among them. I've watched six people stand agonizingly still for over an hour and, with words alone, skip through a parade of places and scenarios and thoughts."
As a performing art, theatre is meant to be experienced by the individual, and therefore we will all, with our own life experiences and ideas about the world, indubitably take something different from it. Despite this, there are shows that create their own messages. Some shows like the 15th-century English play
Everyman depict stock characters meant to represent specific stereotypes in society (such as Knowledge and Beauty), which usually causes audiences to reflect on those elements of human nature. The pro-Soviet Russia play
An Optimistic Tragedy was written during the Russian Civil War in a time of heavy governement theatre censorship, but was allowed to be performed because of its positive representation of Soviet ideals. As the heroine dies in the last scene, her last words mirror the play's message: the Communists will prevail.
Theatre is much like the mainstream media: it presents predetermined information with some element of bias, and what we take from it is what we get. We can't see into the playwright's mind, just like we can't see into the minds of media moguls who determine which information is divulged to the public. It may offend, it may make us want to change the world, it may break our hearts and evoke unhappy memories of fear and struggle. The sheer diversity of it and the potential it has to evoke emotion renders it a cultural aspect that cannot be ignored.
--DQ
