Theatre and Religion

I know these sound like sort of...conflicting topics, but I was thinking about something today and suddenly got philosophical (this is what happens when I get a real break between shows). I've been reading up on a couple of things about theatre management, and how a lot of the way regional theatres (like ours) function is based on a sort of tradition; it's just how it's been done for years, and that's good enough. I find this point fascinating, and even more fascinating is the commitment and struggle by some to make theatre relevant and accessible. I know Holly's posted about this, too, but it's curious to me that this is a similar issue that I've had with religion for years.

There are stigmas, accessibility and relevance issues associated with both, and I'm behind fixing both. I don't want to step on toes, I'm just telling it the way I see it having grown up in the church. I love my church, for example, I think my Pastor is one of the most brilliant, insightful men I've ever encountered, and just like with other occupations, there are those who were obviously called into this position and those who, well, should probably take a crack at something else. (It's like theatre in that, too: if you can see yourself doing anything else, you should probably do that). But there are things about the church that bother me, and this gets back to the accessibility thing.

In theatre the problem, I believe, is the idea that plays are high-brow entertainment, or campy; the idea people have in their heads of the average theatre-goer is, essentially, an elitist, and the same seems to go for the church, except rather than being a social elitist, it's a spiritual elitist, someone we don't feel we can measure up to, a Duddly Do-Right we can't relate to because we can't see their motives.

So, back to the crux of the matter: What I've seen in both worlds are those wonderful people who say "I don't care if this is how we've ALWAYS done things, I want to know how we SHOULD do things." These are the innovators, the people who set out to create a public forum, rather than a club, where everyone is invited, welcome, really welcome. Theatre and religion are both seen as archaic, vintage at best, but mostly irrelevant. The theatre kids and the youth group kids are always their own cliques in school, just like the jocks and the cool kids, but somehow FILM, with the exception of the film festival crowd (which is, ironically similar to the theatre crowd, but that's another discussion entirely) is as universal as music: there are genres just like theatre (and, heh heh, religion) but everyone can ask "what's your favorite movie?" without thinking about it, and engage in passionate discussion. When was the last time you asked a new acquaintance "what's your favorite play?" outside of the theatre lobby?

I feel like some of this comes from the way productions differ between Film and Theatre. In film, you don't do the same movie twice unless you're re-making it. In theatre, however, we are constantly reviving old shows. The production is nearly always different, and in many cases, still relevant no matter how many times it is done. Example: All My Sons. The show is specific in its time period and topics, but still rings with universal truths about honesty, loyalty, family, etc, despite being written over 5 decades ago! I don't know if it's just me, though, but it seems like the only new plays I ever hear about on Broadway are musicals like Wicked and Avenue Q. With regard to Wicked, I find it interesting to see a play based off of a book (by the way I can't stand listening to that show anymore...) when I've heard the advice from film professors and producers which says that it's easier to write a novel and have it made into a movie than to write an original screenplay which gets made. But I digress... the question I really want to ask is: is playwriting really dead? And I guess I can answer that question because I do know an amazing playwright from my school who wrote an awesome show which was produced on our mainstage and sold out nightly. So that gives me hope...

Back to my goal, and a goal I know I am not alone in, is to help make theatre, this wonderful world I've stepped into, more accessible to the average person. Financially I don't know how I can help, but I feel like the medium is one which is so unique, so immediate, so...real that it has the potential to touch everyone. Most people agree that going to see a musical artist live is an experience 10x more exhilarating than listening to/watching a recording. The same goes for a live stage performance. The experience is enveloping, 3-dimensional (move aside, IMAX, hi-def still can't touch live) exciting, organic, interactive....*phew*.

I think I just de-railed. I had more to write, mostly about being a control-freak, but honestly, I congratulate you if you made it this far. I'll save the control freak rant for another post, it's probably redundant for everyone reading this anyway...