THEATRE
“Theatre is that branch of the performing arts concerned with the creation of stories or narratives for (or with) an audience using combinations of acting, speech, gesture, music, dance, object manipulation, sound and spectacle — indeed, any one or more elements of the other performing arts. In addition to standard narrative dialogue style, theatre takes such forms as opera, musicals, ballet, mime, kabuki, classical Indian dance, Chinese opera, mummers' plays, improvisation, story theater and pantomime.”
This is how theatre is defined in Wikipedia. This I think is very important as it makes us aware of the great span of both world theatre and the theatre world.
Theatre has been liked and practiced all over the world for ages.
The age of theatre is the same as that of humankind. When one person or few people together narrated a story with action to other person or people, may be of hunting or of taking bath in a river, theatre elements came to life. To make the narration interesting and realistic it was necessary to have a good preparation. Having a good memory and an understanding of the subject was the foremost. Reproducing an event accurately may have required some property too. Perhaps a light source was used; or the background sounds of animals or birds or of the water flow may have made the narration more real. A special place to sit or stand at might have been used so that everybody had a better view. May be not everyone was a good storyteller. Someone doing it well may have been in demand for their performances — a professional actor. Some narrations may have been popular enough to have been performed again and again. And somewhere, a simple narration or a story may have evolved into a play!
Theatre travels with life and takes different forms at different times. It has come a long way and yet it continues to present new challenges for creative minds to explore it further. No wonder it attracts people. They more we play, the more remains to be played. No life is sufficient to explore it completely. People perform the same play again and again and yet wish to perform it again to know the theatre more, to know it better, to inch towards perfection.
Theatre, the word, comes from the Greek word theatron, which literally means a place to see. But it is more than that. It is an activity. It is an ongoing thought process. If you study the theatre of a particular generation, you can learn about humans who lived in that particular generation. It is an artistic documentation of the time. It tells us about language, relations, political and social pictures, drapery, behavioral patterns, and whatnot. Theatre, in the modern sense of the word, in last two thousand and five hundred years or so is with us. It is a treasure for students from all the disciplines. If someone wants to go back and live at that particular period and find out about the life then, theatre will serve as a time machine. Theatre is the vehicle that will take you to any imaginary destination and the time of your choice — past, present, or future.
The theatre is play and is to be played with the rules, as every game has its rules and conventions. Rules are for both the performers and the audience. It is good to learn those first and then enter the theatre. Theatre is not to be taken casually.
It is a serious activity which demands your attention both as a performer and as an audience. They both have to have respect for each other. Time is precious for both. A play is to be performed only when it is ready for performance. To have enough rehearsals is must. An audience should never disturb the performer or a fellow audience.
A visit to the theatre is a unique experience. It's a live performance and is different from a film or a television.
