All year we have been studying Musical Theatre History. I feel that everything that we touched on: from Greek tragedies, to Operetta, to the book musicals of today, can be fully and unquestionably considered to be theatre. I feel like instead of broadening my views on the definition of theatre, the things we have learned this semester actually narrowed them. At the beginning of the semester I believed that most things could be considered to be theatre, if there was some sort of spectacle and spectatorship involved, but now, I'm not so sure. Certainly the phenomenon of gladiators influenced the development of what theatre is today, but if it is theatre, then a hockey game could be called theatre, and that's just something I can't agree with. Because we didn't really study gladiators and hockey players did we? We studied playwrights and opera singers and the Quem quaeritis tropes. Those are all things that I would consider to be theatre. Or at least steps toward it.
I don't think this new perspective is narrow-minded in any way. It really just comes down to personal opinion, and I think that theatre in its true form was revealed to us through the things that we have learned throughout the semester.
So to conclude...
Theatre:
Very effective video comparisons haha.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you that everything in the text we learned about is an example of theatre and that hockey doesn't necessarily fit the "Playbill" (haha 10 points for bad pun!) of what theatre is. Also agree about the narrowing of theatre classification but I still think there are forms of theatre that exist that weren't covered this semester and aren't in the text. With so many cultures and over so much time it's hard to keep up with exactly how theatre has evolved into what we know it to be and where it is going based on how the art-form and the world is changing.
I agree with the whole "theatre is just theatre" comment. I feel that it is something that has been defined since I was very young and I have never really had to form my own opinion of that I think it is. I and feel that is because of the rich history which has shaped what theatre really is. Yes, theatrical events and activities surround us, but theatre is something unique and specific.
ReplyDeleteAHAHAHA oh my gosh I totally agree with everything (especially theatre being unusual) but the grass growing not being theatre was for sure my favourite point on this blog post
ReplyDeleteIt is my opinion that just because we didn't study hockey, gladiatorial combat, or botany, doesn't necessarily rule them out as theatre. Yes, our area of study was something of a narrow one this term but we only have so much time. Just because we stuck to Operettas, Greek Theatre, etc. doesn't mean anything we didn't study can be ruled out as theatre. In my eyes, watching Kevin Bieksa deck someone is just as much theatre as Hello Dolly this year.
ReplyDeleteIt is my opinion that just because we didn't study hockey, gladiatorial combat, or botany, doesn't necessarily rule them out as theatre. Yes, our area of study was something of a narrow one this term but we only have so much time. Just because we stuck to Operettas, Greek Theatre, etc. doesn't mean anything we didn't study can be ruled out as theatre. In my eyes, watching Kevin Bieksa deck someone is just as much theatre as Hello Dolly this year.
ReplyDelete