The Power of Theatre

There are very few things that are more powerful than live theatre.

The art form of live performance acknowledged as theatrical experiences dates back over 2,500 years. Vibrant traditions of theatre have flourished all over the world in every culture since classical Athens BC. Theatre is defined as a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. However, theatre can occur anywhere the actors deem their stage. Live theatre can be performed in line, lyric, song, spoken word, dance or poetry.

Live theatre is so powerful it takes you on an adventure and immerses you in someone else’s story.

In the last couple of weeks, I have experienced live theatre that has completely overwhelmed me. I have laughed, cried, felt joy, sadness and contemplated many a life issue. I consider myself a person who is very in tune with my emotions and one who is not afraid to show any of it but theatre stirs emotion in me more than any other facet of my life. As you sit in your chair and lose yourself into the story of the performers, you are forced to put yourself in their shoes and walk the journey with them, whether you like it or not. Depending on the size of the place where the show is performed, you can almost feel what the actor or actress is feeling down to the very core of the plot and winding through the action, climax and resolution.

When I just watched “The Crucible”, it was so intense as I watched these historical figures bring to life a true story that was truly horrifying. I could feel the disdain, the dishonor, the fear and the manipulation. There were several times I just wanted to shout out to save John Proctor or save Mary Warren from the game she was caught up in. When I watched, “Dancing Lessons”, I was transported to a place where I learned what it was like to be inside the mind of a man with autism and how he coped with social anxiety and processed life. I have always read about autism, known people who had it but i have NEVER experienced it. I was also reminded of what the belief in someone could mean, just one step at a time. I also glimpsed into the world of helping each other, no matter our backgrounds and what we deal or struggle with. It made me check my honesty, integrity, loyalty and caused me to contemplate the things in my life that are barriers from true relationship.

When I visited Broadway a few weeks ago, I laughed hysterically at “Something Rotten!” and was appalled at the way Celie was treated in “The Color Purple”. I wept during “Finding Neverland” when Sylvia passed away and her spirit was whisked around that building on 45th street and cried like a baby in Wicked during the last note of Defying Gravity. It was Elphaba for goodness sake, and that last note, with so much power just overtakes you and you want to stand up and cheer for her to find her vengeance. Plus that girl could belt her face off!

I love film and TV and have so much respect for actors that make that their home but there is something about the sheer transparency of live theatre that entrances the audience and lifts us out of our seat, unto the stage and lost in the story of what we were once just watching. It never ceases to amaze me how I can watch a performer on stage and meet them after and see how very different most are from the character they portrayed… and that is powerful.

I encourage you to fall in love with live theatre and experience it as many times as you possibly can. Live theater can literally change your life and open locked windows to your soul that you thought no longer had a key. If you ever performed on stage and allowed your audience into YOUR story….well, Bravo!

See you at a show soon!

Much Love,

JV