A Brief Thought...

Today, I discussed with another student, what is theatre? At first, he argued that a play (the physical book) is not theatre.

"Arguable," I softly said. He heard me.

Several famous theatre theorists argue that the text of a play, the written word, is enough to qualify as theatre. I don't entirely agree.

He then argued that theatre is the performance of written word.

Well, I argued, improvisation is still theatre and even a dance performance can be theatre... as long as it tells a story. No, not every single piece of "theatre" tells a story; I would more likely just call it theatrical, because I believe that theatre originated as a form of passing along a story.

This other student and I came to agree at least on one point. In essence, theatre is the performance of storytelling.

* * *

I write this because I realized tonight, as I watched Randy work with Joy, that the telling of a story is a very delicate process. Some of the stories Joy tells, true or created, are of a very sensitive subject matter. Sometimes they are difficult to hear, no matter how many times she retells them. In order to effectively retell these memories, which Joy has a natural-born talent of doing, it requires immense strength and patience. We are still in the rehearsal process, but already, it is wonderful to watch Joy get lost in her stories.

I hope she doesn't feel small on stage all alone, because her words speak volumes and paint beautiful pictures.