theatre and life

this is a paper i submitted to my scene study class on the importance of theatre and life
i thought that it would make a good blog entry. enjoy
It is a difficult task to begin to define why it is that theatre holds a place so dear to my heart. Without it I feel that my life would be utterly empty, a vacuum that feeds endlessly upon the mediocre in an attempt to come into some form or sense of completeness.
My life continues to be a never-ending struggle as I search without rest for meaning, for purpose, and for an inkling of comfort.
In observation I have uncovered what I believe to be an undeniable truth. We as humans live a life that is void of purpose. We search with great effort in hopes that one day we will undergo the great revelation, if you will, and hence forth be baptised anew in the waters of purpose, able to take our new found salvation and spread it like seed over the fields of the dreams, passions, and inspirations of others.
Let me simplify what I believe to be truth into a question. Why does the child wish to grow up to fight fires, or why does the banker fantasize about riding his horse through the mountains? We all spend our lives searching, seeking for that one moment where we feel complete, content, and carefree.
Thus we create; a means by which we can all unite in our differences and for a brief moment in time connect with one another on a level that is so unbelievably personal that all manner of labels or separations disappear. The Jew is no longer the Jew, neither is the Gentile the Gentile, the mother is no longer the mother; the son is no longer sibling. We become silhouettes of our selves, separated from the slavery of titles. We come together to simply exist.
We exist together as we share in experiences that parallel our lives.
We exist together as we share emotions that directly affect some and through nothing more than a human connection indirectly affect others.
I believe that we exist to coexist, but in the entirety of our existence we fail to exist in a means that allows for coexistence. Therefore, theatre, art, and music serve as the means to an end; the end of our independence, which is directly connected to our loneliness and thus fosters the feelings of incompleteness.
There is magic in the power of a play and there is mystery in the brush strokes of a painting, just as there is memory in the melody of music. We cannot deny ourselves what we need to survive. We cannot go without food or without water or we will cease to exist. We cannot go without passion or without love or we will cease to remain alive. We cannot go without theatre, without art, or without music or we will cease to be human.
That is the beauty of life. The plight of evil men can strip from us our possessions, our wealth, and even our appearance. Yet we remain superior to any attempt of anyone to belittle us. Nothing can take away our imagination. Nothing can take away our passion. Nothing can take away the defining characteristics that make us who we are. In some senses I find humour in mans attempt to define his life by his accomplishments or titles. When the only thing that separates the doctor form the lawyer is a man made system of
rules, of knowledge, and of desire. Let me explain. If you were to take form the doctor
his white robe, or the framed paper on his wall that gives proof to his studies. If you were to take from the layer the courtroom, or the briefcase, or the corner office that bears his name upon the door, most would consider this to be taking from these individuals everything that makes them who they are. Wrong, have you take from the doctor his personality or his emotion, his passion, his love? Have you taken form the layer his humour, or his character or his morals?
A title means nothing. The theatre knows this. The theatre does not demand that you show proof of accomplishment to be able to sit in its seats. The theatre does not care if you are a king or a bum. The theatre only cares that you come into its house as a human, with the ability to connect to others regardless of rank, race, or salary. The theatre will not judge you. The theatre will not demand that you give back to it. The theatre will only give to you what you take from it. The theatre will save you in your search for completeness. You will be fulfilled in the connection that exists when the souls of the suffering, the searching, and the satisfied sit in simplicity fixed upon the story that seeks to unite the separations that exist when men forget the importance of our coexistence.


"By whatever means it is accomplished, the prime business of a play is to arouse the passions of its audience so that by the route of passion may be opened up new relationships between a man and men, and between men and Man.”
-- Arthur Miller
(http://www.entplaza.com Quotations on theatre)