2 of 4

Write now Article Tools

Ever since I was a little girl, the magic of the theatre has completely entranced me. I have been involved in any kind of theatre a I can lay my hands on, from local community plays to one off performances in the west end. The feeling of both watching and participating is purely exhilarating because of the sheer diversity. What I regard as the most enchanting aspect of any kind of theatre, is the creation of another world. You sit in what is, subjectively, a box room or a hall with chairs and it gets transformed into a whole new civilization. There's also a kind of voyeuristic pleasure that comes from theatre because you look into worlds that are unknown to you and become part of them.
One of my first memories of the theatre was going to see the musical version of Dr Doolittle on the west end when I was ten. I remember just being in complete awe of a giant fiber optic moth flying over my head, and a talking parrot and where they got a real pushmepullyou from (yes I did believe in pushmepullyou's!). It's not just sitting and watching people prance around on a stage a three dimensional way of telling a story. It's getting the audience involved in a sequence of events and empathizing with fictional characters. Everything is so meticulously rehearsed, placed and included to add that extra quality. It's the perfect timing in a comedy or just the right words from the leading lady. The (i know, cliches!) 'i don't know what' quality that has made it popular for centuries. The Greek's may have had an appalling infrastructure, but they sure knew how to captivate an audience.
A very close friend of mine's mother has got MS and is a single parent. My friend is training to be a neurologist and his life long ambition is to cure MS because he is seeing what it is doing to his mother. For his birthday she took him to see Les Miserable, which is his favorite musical. He said the best thing about it, was that his mother could sit in a theatre for a couple of hours and forget her troubles at home and her MS. It's just a small amount of evidence that shows that theatre is more that just entertainment. It is escapology, education, experience, wider learning. It's whatever the writer chooses it be. But mainly, it's whatever the audience want it be. Theatre is brushed off as a frivolity, but it is a part of our society, an innate human characteristic. And that, in my opinion, is theatre.

Learn more about this author, Mary Whiting.
Click here to send author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about Reflections: The theater?
We want to hear your view. Write now!