Theater is life and death and everything in between
Written: Dec 01 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Theater brings out the creative in each of us, it helps us to live life more deeply, fully, and thoughtfully
Cons: Huge time commitment
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| Redlass's Full Review: Charity Organizations |
Earlier this week I attended a memorial service for a local actor who had died of a heart attack at the age of 48. The memorial service was held at a local theater. It was a touching affair with more than 100 people singing folk songs and sharing memories of his life. The service went on for more than two hours as one person after another came up to talk about how this actor had touched their lives.
Later I had time to reflect on some of the wonders that had taken place. Here was a man who didn’t decide what he wanted to do until he was 30 years old. He had a reputation for having an explosive temper and suffered greatly in last years of his life. He’d had to have two kidney transplants and was on dialysis for diabetes—all of this without health insurance.
During his memorial service, I listened as people talked about his creativity, his energy, and the laughs he brought into their lives. They talked about the success he had attained—working parts in commercials, live performances, movies. Others talked about how he helped them get a start in the business and get on their feet when they made a move. I thought about how much he had impressed me in every interaction we’d had with his gentleness, humor, and caring. He was a believer in peace and passed it on.
During the memorial service, people referred to the fund-raiser that had been held at that same theater to help pay the actor’s mounting medical bills. We heard about how he mentored other individuals in a patient manner.
I then started thinking about the vehicle through which all of this took place. Most of the people in the audience were members of the theater community. They were people who volunteer a large percentage of their free time to making sure there is a place for live theater to be performed and to be enjoyed.
Theater changes lives
Discovering theater was frequently credited for changing and enriching the life of the actor whose memorial service I was attending. And he was far from the only story I’d ever heard about how theater—and more specifically community theater—has changed someone’s life:
@ A parent came up to me this year and told me how much her son has blossomed since being in two plays in Bath Community Theatre Guild. He’s shed much of his shyness and has more confidence and poise than ever before.
@ My own very talented husband drifted from career choice to career choice taking jobs until he could decide what he wanted out of life. After one exposure to community theater, he found a passion that has given him energy, drive, and a goal.
@ I’ve seen people help each other find jobs, loan each other money to get through tough times, and bring meals to other community theater members who were sick in bed.
@ I’ve seen people decide they are going to stay in a community because of the theater that is available and the people who are involved. I’ve even seen people move back to our community because others just couldn’t compare.
@ I’ve noticed that I have become a more confident public speaker, more aware of my physical actions and body movement, and have many more people in my life than I would have otherwise.
Quality of Life
Back when I used to write grants for one of our local community theaters I spent a lot of time reading articles about non-profit volunteer organizations. There was a whole group of people who argued against the arts receiving any money or having non-profit status. They said that it took resources—including human volunteers—away from the “more important” human services organizations. The argument was that volunteers should spend their time making sure people are fed, clothed, and removed from abusive situations.
I would certainly never argue that a ticket to a play is more important that feeding a starving child. However, I would say that charity needs to extend beyond the poor and those in crisis. Art, and theater in specific, is a way to keep people from falling into crisis. Theater is part of what makes people’s lives more fulfilling and improves the community that they live in. It is a quality of life charity because it brings us together as a community and then it challenges the way we think and behave with the contents of the shows.
A Lifetime of Arts
Coincidentally, today (the day I am writing and submitting this review) is World Aids Day. Part of the recognition of World Aids Day is the “Day Without Art.” (see http://www.creativetime.org/dwa/2000/index.html for the complete details.) It made me think about what life without the theater would be: much more lonely, much more shallow, and much less intimate.
BCTG
I’m going to tell you a little bit about the theater group that I call home, but most of you reading this don’t live in my area and are unlikely to ever see one of our shows. Please don’t stop reading. There are thousands of community theaters all across the country. Find one that is near you—treat yourself to a night at the theater and see why live performances are still more powerful than anything you’ll find on your television. The prices are probably even more reasonable than your local movie house.
Bath Community Theatre Guild was not my first theater home. But it is the place where I have settled. It is a place where you are almost never reprimanded for what you haven’t done, but always appreciated for what you are able to contribute.
It’s a small group in a small community. We are currently in our fifth season. I joined the group at the beginning of its second season. My husband and I auditioned for and were cast in a show as husband and wife.
Shortly after the auditions, I learned I was pregnant. We joke now that our son was born into the theater and is being raised there. Certainly his arrival will always be closely linked with one of the shows. His dad was playing the part of Jonathan Brewster in Arsenic and Old Lace (that’s the villain) around the time our son was due. I had already warned the director and other cast members that my husband would miss a show before he would miss the birth of our child. Fortunately, our son was cooperative. He was born between show weekends. I was released from the hospital just in time to drive my husband to the brush-up rehearsal and then my son and I attended the show the next day (so my son attended his first show when he was only three days old).
We’re in the process of applying for non-profit status so we’ve spent a lot of time discussing what our mission is. We’ve talked with each other about what makes us different from the many other theater groups in our area and what our “niche” is. We’ve talked about how we’ve always had someone new in each of our shows and had a first-time director in every season. We ask ourselves whether we are trying to present shows for actors? For audiences? How do we define our art? For many of us, the more important question is: What are we doing for our community? How are we making Bath a better place to live?
We’re seeing an increasing number of teenagers from the Bath area come out and be a part of our Guild. There are always children who come to the rehearsals. We’ve worked with groups within the high school and middle school to help them with fund-raisers, put on special performances for them, and supply the teachers with lesson plans to go with the shows we are producing. All of this is an effort to make sure that what we are doing is making our community a better place to be and to help the individuals who participate to live richer more full lives.
How can you be involved?
First, find a community theater in your area. I started out volunteering for the theater by answering an ad in the newspaper that was looking for box office volunteers. I worked at night then but I could come during the day to sell tickets. In return, they gave me free tickets to come see the shows.
What are some ways to get involved?
On-stage:
@ Acting
@ Singing
@ Dancing
@ Play in the orchestra pit
Back stage:
@ Directing
@ Stage managing
@ Finding or building props
@ Costume design
@ Seamstress
@ Designing sets
@ Building sets
@ Painting sets
@ Moving furniture
@ Set dressing (consider it sort of like interior designing—making a living room look like a living room by finding furniture, wall hangings, etc.)
@ Lights
@ Sound
@ Produce
Off stage/Behind the scenes:
@ Usher
@ Sell tickets
@ Write press releases
@ Put up posters
@ Balance check books
@ Babysit for the children of actors
@ Sell concessions
@ Solicit donations
@ Write thank-you notes
@ Build a Web site
@ Make phone calls
@ Help raise money
Three years ago, I spent a month badgering my husband to go audition for a play. He has a wonderful voice, an incredible memory, and is very good at projecting. It was a historic play and he’s a history buff. He kept refusing, saying he’d never done it before and why in the world would they cast him when he has no skill or experience. After the second night of auditions, I was practically begging him to go. He finally said, “All right, if I go, will you stop nagging me about it?”
I considered for a moment and responded, “Just for this show?”
“Yes.”
“OK.” Said I. So he went, was cast, and fell in love with theater. Now he is pursuing it as a career and seeking professional opportunities.
Go! Be discovered. Find out if theater can spark a passion in you. Be a part of a community that is vibrant, cares for its own. Meet people like my friend who passed away last week. Even though 48 years is too short a time to live a life, it still somehow seems as if his life was full and complete.
“Television is furniture. Film is art. Theater is life.”—Anonymous
This review has been written as part of the Volunteerism write-off, organized by argonut. The purpose of this write-off is to give thanks and appreciation for the organizations dedicated to helping each one of us help other people. Please take a moment out of your day today to help someone in need. For more information about this write-off and to read other reviews of fabulous organizations such as this, please check out the following url:
http://mynook.com/volunteer.html
argonut, bigjack, bgoodday, broadwaybaby, caleo, dlbrantley, francesca57, jo.com, kelly60, nobody_knows, pokemonsick, sawasdee, soxfan, teskue, thundersangel & zoey123 </I>
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Redlass
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Member: Bridgette
Location: Lansing, Michigan
Reviews written: 526
Trusted by: 482 members
About Me:
I have many loves: family, books, theater, writing, and the many communities I belong to.
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