Why do we love theatre so much?

Why do we love theatre so much?

Powerscourt Theatre

I'm currently working with the Powerscourt Theatre in Dublin as their web developer and digital marketer, so I thought it might be interesting to write a blog on theatre as we all love theatre in one form or another. 

We've all heard "There's No Business Like Show Business" and that’s certainly true for those of us who like theatre. Why do we love it so much? Does it inspire us? Make us think? Changes our lives? Or move us? It should certainly transport us in to the story and connect us to the story line and its characters. It’s an escape from the reality of life, full of its own emotion, a release from the drudgery of our daily life. 

The live performances of theatre tend to attract a very diverse group of people. There is no typical person who goes to see a performance; you can stand on the stage of any theatre and look at its audience and it would be composed of everyone from teenagers to the elderly, with one thing in common – The love of theatre, the live performances, and the escape from reality, even if it’s only for an hour or two. 

We all enjoy a performance; it doesn't matter if it's a performance by our kids in a school play or the Shakespeare Theatre Company. We should appreciate theatre for what it is. Theatre brings people together! It's not surprising that, in repressive societies, theatre has often been aligned with the movement towards openness and freedom.

Take the ‘Freedom Theatre Company’ for instance. They are a community-based theatre and cultural centre in Jenin Refugee Camp in Palestine and they regularly perform the renowned South African anti-apartheid play “The Island”. In Czechoslovakia in 1993 a playwright became the first president of the new Czech Republic. Theatre is powerful! So let us be passionate about the theatre and enjoy its escapism and pleasures. Let us live in the wonder and magic of what live theatre brings.