Charlotte Higgins | Stage | The Guardian: Theatre is an artform of the memory. A night at the theatre is a fugitive experience. The players may come back the next evening and perform the same show, but no one will ever see it again exactly the same way as you did. The texture of your emotions on that occasion, the mood of the world around you, the atmospheric conditions, even: all of this floods into the space between you and the performers. The actors meet that cloud of feeling with their own subtle shifts and changes of action, perhaps almost imperceptible.
3 comments:
Writing about theater in such a (excuse my pun) dramatic way comes off pretty heavy-handed sometimes, but as someone who wrote pretty much all of my college essays like this, so I can't really judge. Beyond that, I totally agree with the odd way theater sticks in our mind. I never remember the whole thing, but I remember small moments so vividly. Theater is a full sensory experience that makes me live in the moment like nothing else can, which I think is why I miss live theater so much. Whenever I wake up after seeing a play, there's usually one or two moments that are like a flashbulb memory in my brain, and I associate those moments with that play forever. I think it makes it even more special when you are able to see a show and make new memories. So, you know what, maybe we should be dramatic when we write about theater. I think it's fair for people to romanticize live performance.
I agree very much with Jem about how this article is rather dramatic in how it romanticizes theater. I also agree that theater has some very unique qualities, and it is most definitely an art form that utilizes memory. I feel that when I watch theater, it sticks with me for a long time and that the way I feel about it evolves and grows the more I think about it. Live theater is especially unique because it is never the same each time and you can't rewatch it. It only lives in your mind. I think because of this quality it is very easy to romanticize theater especially when we cannot experience it in the capacity it was meant to be experienced in. I truly think that online theater cannot compare to regular in person theater. You looks the essence of what makes theater, and instead online theater is essentially a low budget amature film.
It’s hard to go through your memories and search for the last piece of live, in-person theatre you have seen. It’s hard because it was so long ago. A year without being able to sit in an audience surrounded by people all expressing different reactions to a scene but all understanding each other. It’s hard because we miss it. I think it’s safe and reasonable to say that people hate lockdown. It’s a necessary evil in order to keep the people safe. However, it really sucks! This article was written quite beautifully. I can easily remember the first-ever show I saw as a girl as well as the first-ever Broadway show I saw. I can remember the exact moment where I fell in love with theatre as well as the moment I fell in love with it a second time after nearly quitting. I think we can assume that all of us in the theatre industry miss being able to produce and attend live theatre with a packed house. It’s difficult to think about the last time, but sometimes thinking about the last time is what helps us get through the pandemic until we can once again welcome full audiences to the theatre.
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