Entertainment: Theatre Essay, Research Paper

THEATRE

Entertainment is a very important part of our existence, especially in our culture. Without entertainment, whether it is individual or with a group, humans could not stay sane, hence could not survive. There are many types of entertainment. Humans have been entertaining themselves in all sorts of different ways for thousands of years. As simple as playing with sticks and stones, and as complex as flying F-16 fighting jets; we need entertainment. The most popular form of entertainment today is watching television. Although television is the direct means of receiving entertainment for the common family, it is not however the most stimulating. Throughout the ages stories have been past down from generation to generation through word of mouth, and through the advent of theatre arts. Theater unites the past and present in a unique cultural experience. Theatre continues to thrive and has become an important subject for study in schools and universities. Theatre also can be defined, as an expressive process that is best understood through the idea of symbolization and its role in the discovery and communication of meaning

Theatre is taught as part of a curriculum designed to make students more human and more humane. The emphasis, in this case, is on creative and critical thinking, communication skills, and the philosophical and historical place of theatre in the development and maintenance of various cultures. Theatre, both in study and performance, allows students, whether as performers or as audience, to better understand the human condition not only in the cultures with which they are personally familiar, but also in cultures that may be distanced by time or location. The purpose of theatre is to develop performance art through any distinctively cultural foundations. The curriculum integrates training in the areas of acting, voice and movement, and sometimes dance and song while telling a story of moral and value directly or subliminally. The theatre can affect people, because of the impact it often haves on its audience. The main people that the theatre affects are the Actors themselves. Theater trains people in a way by offering them vocal communication skills, teamwork, building skills, expedient creativity, and confidence. Theatre is a very team oriented activity that causes the communication skills to heighten. The theatre is also a place that people can go to find themselves and to have a sense of belonging. Theatre entertains and educates. It shows us who we are and who we can be. Most people appreciate the theatre because they enjoy being told a story. People would be better educated and entertained if there was a little more interest in the theatre because of what it stands for, consequences of different actions arousing the emotions of pity and fear, wonder and awe. Theatre enriches our social and cultural heritages through arts, education, performance and production, all with a strong base in literacy and empowerment for life. This function enlightens and enhances life’s images as viewed by diverse cultures around the world. This means that no matter how much a person thinks they know there is always something that a person can learn.

Actors provide a setting in which they can test the limits of their own creativity by contributing to a generous vision of the human condition. Actors often endeavor to create a diverse body of work that expresses a rigorous, embracing visual by reflecting the highest artistic standards that seeks to maintain an environment in which they as talented artists can do their best work. Actors also strive to engage the audiences in an ongoing dialogue of ideas, by encouraging lifelong learning as a core value. Through productions, outreach, and education, actors hope to aspire the use of theatre experience as a means to challenge, thrill, and stimulate what is best in the human spirit. Acting is not like real life. Acting is willful and extremely conscious. Actors have to determine and plan every desire, every action. When performing, an actor cannot depend upon sudden revelations of subconscious desires and spontaneous bursts of unrehearsed action, because the entire performance would be thrown into chaos. Each member of the cast is constantly trying to figure out and respond to the seemingly random actions of every other cast member. In the process of developing a role, as part of the rehearsal process, the actor uses his sub-conscious mind and his interactions with the other actors and the director to explore possibilities of emotions and actions and to develop meaning and truthful justifications for actions. Ultimately, however, it is the actor’s willful determination of specific desires, actions to perform and ways to perform those actions that are the actor’s tasks – and the key to a successful performance. To convincingly become a character, an actor uses their own analysis of the subtext and other elements of the script, the invented and/or researched history of the character, and knowledge of the time, place and circumstances of the play to express realism. By using these elements to focus upon the determined desires and purpose, the actions of the character are clarified within the play.

The biggest understanding is the fact that no matter if the play that one watches is from ancient Greece or from a modern day script on Broadway the audience will learn something they did not know before and leave with a story never told in the same manner. One of the most powerful characteristics about plays is their ability to make you feel like you have been let in on a secret. The clapping of the delighted audience is the ultimate high, or the rush as an actor stands on the stage.