So before I commence the plunge into the realm of theatre, I would like to ask anyone who reads this to think of a more creative main blog title than: IB Theatre Arts. I generally think of myself as an interesting person and don't want people to see first glance that I am insipid.
It is currently the evening; I accidentally took an hour nap; My textbook is open to the last page that we were required to read; and I am ready to tackle the first legitimate blog post of my career in IBH theatre. There are two more years left on this journey and I am excited to see myself change and grow not only as an actor but also as a person.
I would first like to pose the question that we are asked and ask often: What is Theatre? There are many interpretations and answers to those three words that vary the responses vastly. I'm going to try to make as this chain of answers as coherent and chronologically valid as I can. To begin, in the beginning section The Dawning of a New Century, we see a viewpoint that theatre, more often than not, directly reflects the status or state of the society that it's in. Much of the time, we see that playwrights want to express concern for the state of their societies. The TB gives us examples from the AIDS movement to the 9/11 incident and shows us the correlation between diverse events and their effects on drama.
*note: these are not MY opinions, but the opinions of the book unless stated otherwise. Please also note that I usually agree with a lot of different opinions even though these opinions may overlap and contradict themselves easily. Every idea can evoke a new perspective (and vice versa) and it is within no one's right to say that that perspective is an incorrect one. No ideas are incorrect; it depends on how you see things.*
Furthermore, theatre IS ambiguous and extremely elaborate simultaneously. Here's my way of seeing it. Because of the immeasurable areas and practices that this art can take you, there is no way of viewing theatre in one single way. I, for instance, could think that the spoken word or slam poetry could most definitely be a type of theatre, but in someone else's eyes that could be extremely different.
It is detailed because theatre not only answers questions, but also poses them. It goes deep into a person's mind and evokes feelings in different areas of life and lets them delve into the issues, morals or messages at hand. Theatre is in other ways (how the TB describes it) diverse and eclectic. And just to to snowball something I found interesting was how theatre is also different in where it's played and how it's played. Whether it's a huge theatre that could seat 4000 people, or a small, run-down area; Whether it's done elaborately with breathtaking set designs and costumes or done completely simply and blandly, everyone has a different taste for what they like and enjoy.
Diverse: Showing variety.
Eclectic: Deriving ideas from a wide range of sources.
Adding to how theatre is diverse and eclectic are the numerous different areas of theatre that are practiced globally and in the United States. We have...
Asian American Theatre: I am, to be frank, in total biased favor for Asian-American actors. This is because I am a westernized (not American, I'm from Canada) Korean person. Power to the Asians! I know how difficult it is to make a living as an actor in the world especially if you are a foreigner or someone not naturally of a Caucasian heritage. So I'm in full support, as an actor/person, of what these people do. This specific type of theatre is cultivating and is centered for and on Asian Americans.
Hispanic Theatre: Chicano, Cuban American and Puerto Rican/Nuyorican Theatre are sub categories in the general area of Hispanic Theatre. The productions produced can be written in Spanish or English.
Native American Theatre: This is really interesting because I feel like I've been in one of these productions, but at the same time I have no idea. This type of theatre, compared to traditional theatre practices, focuses on spiritual and social traditions that involves theatre techniques and elements. Rather than performing to an audience, you perform with an audience, making me confused as I feel like I was a part of a performance, but I was also dancing and making noises.
Feminist Theatre: This form of theatre allows us to look beyond the stereotypes that are laid in our society. As the name suggests, I am talking about gender roles. I, being a man, even understand discrimination and think that these plays (The Heidi Chronicles, The Sisters Rosensweig etc.) are wonderful because they empower women to be more than what our society gives them credit for.
Gay and Lesbian Theatre: This type of theatre promotes equality for homosexuals/raises awareness and gives all people an insight of what goes on in their lives. I didn't even know that this existed before reading this textbook.
Performance Art: It poses three questions: What is performance? What is theatre? What is the subject of theatrical representation. It is up for debate. That's what they want the audience to confront. Performance Art is highly experimental that initially incorporated elements of dane and visual arts. It's always changing, and currently, because performance art is drawn from visions of individual performers or directers (rather than a playwright), autobiographical monologues have become popular.
Postmodernism: Forget modern. Pshh, we now have postmodern. This emphasizes theatre that deviates from reality and realism and ventures toward surrealism. The Lion King (Musical) was a very post modern play because of its unique staging techniques. They use puppets and combine them with people and provide a beautiful piece of art.
And as you can see, there are so many areas of theatre in just the United States alone and I'm sure I was listing only a few of them. Beyond these areas of theatre, there are also different types of theatre (eg. Butoh theatre, pantomime etc.) that we will research and explore at a later time. In terms of theatre outside of the United States we have: African Theatre and Drama, Latin American Theatre, Teahtre in the Middle East, Asian Theatre and Alternative European Theatre.
So the last question I want to pose is Why and How is theatre so powerful and popular. There are numerous other mediums of media that are cheaper and more accessible, and yet, we have a surprisingly high amount of theatre activity. In the TB, it gives us examples of how pictures/videos of people do not compare with seeing them live and how it is just human impulse to create theatre. I agree very much so with both of these reasons, but more with the former. Any type of media can be trumped with face to face performance. Whether it's music or art, you connect with the art made 13087325times better. That's why concerts are so much funner to go to. :) In this way, I think theatre is an everlasting form of art that will never die down. I also think this because of how it can cover anyone in this world because of its eclectic, diverse nature. It's survived this long, why stop now?
Just a side note, I decided what I'm going to name my blog. Here's a big shocker: it's to do with Kingdom Hearts, BUT I think it has a pretty great message. I'm going to name it "the Kingdom Key" because in the game, the key can open any lock in the world and it solves as a tool to expose. I think that's what theatre can be this year. A tool to open different realms of topics that we haven't even thought about and a tool to expose ourselves to each other (that sound stupid, but don't take it like that) and learn from each other and learn about each other.
Anyways, it's time to go! I say goodnight! Live long and Prosper!
