theatre: live art
I will happily admit that I was in the Drama Club in high school. We all thought we were pretty awesome. We were told all the time by teachers or mentors that we were great actors. "Better than Broadway!" they'd say to us and we for some reason believed them.
I don't understand why people would tell us those lies. We were 14-18 year old kids from a small town in Utah and nearly none of us had ever had a truly raw experience in our lives.
I did eventually visit Broadway, but I don't think I really understood what I was witnessing. The 'goodness' of the theatre (for me) was measured by the production value and the dancing. I didn't understand what the art really was.
Then I grew up a bit and learned some great things. Art. People. Humanity. Struggle. Story. Climax. Conflict. How to write one-word sentences.
Theatre in London is...well...I can't even think of a word to describe it. It's live art. The culmination of all moments in that actor's life laid out in front of you. In a way, it's a bearing of soul. It's got this kind of energy that reverberates out of the stage as if there was something near celestial going on up there.
Did I ever touch the heavens in high school? No. I don't think I ever got close.
And in case you are wondering what I saw there:
Noises Off
Antigone
Henry V
Gatz
Long Day's Journey into Night
War Horse
One Man, Two Guvnors
Les Miserables
Richard III
The Taming of the Shrew
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