FREE ESSAY ON ART OF THEATRE

ART OF THEATRE

The Art of 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.