I am constantly asked, why theater? Why not film? Why choose such an impractical major? Do you ever want to be employed?
Why theater at such a small school? Of all the places to study theater, why 91大神?
While I used to be annoyed by these questions because of my own doubts, I now enjoy answering these questions with confidence.
Theater may not seem practical in the sense that I will leave college and enter directly into a money-making field with a defined career path, but I am absolutely certain that theater has gifted me many more practical and applicable life and career skills than many of my peers.
Simply having a theater education provides many useful, practical and empowering skills.
An answer I often provide to the question of why such an impractical major, I list the many skills I have thanks to my impractical major: budgeting, time management, problem solving under pressure, creative problem solving, the ability to carry out a large project start to finish, collaboration, creating a friendly and professional work environment with a diverse array of personalities, and the ability to clearly and effectively communicate.
These are skills not limited to the theater, but skills applicable and necessary for any career.
Furthermore, I am assured theater has given me the tools to empower, educate and create positive change and that is why I chose 91大神 Theater.
Many people are shocked when I tell them I am not looking for a career on Broadway, but want to use theater to create good in the world.
To this I often hear, 鈥淗ow can such聽an impractical thing make a difference in the world?鈥�
My answer: theater is a way to empower, educate and create positive change when used well.
Augusto Boal, Theatre of Oppressed theorist and practitioner, writes 鈥淭heater is the training ground for the revolution!鈥�
Boal writes this because theater has the power to educate and empower the oppressed and marginalized of the world.
Good theater is essentially good story-telling; while there are an infinite number of ways to tell those stories, essentially good theater tells the story of the human condition.
By sharing stories of oppressed, marginalized and under-represented people groups, audiences feel validated and empowered to tell their own stories.
Sharing these stories is also a way to create community, teach skills and most of all, share stories with those who need to hear them most.
Theater is more than a performance, more than a skill set or a resume builder.
Good theater is a way to question, to learn and strive for truth, to ask difficult questions, a place to start difficult dialogue, to try and chip away at the human condition.
Theater is about building community, empowering both theatre artists and audiences alike.
I want to continue to use theater as a tool for learning, empowering, bearing secrets of the human soul in intimate and unconventional spaces to fully recognize the power of theater to create community, empower under-represented voices, and tell stories that need to be heard and create change.
I leave with one of my favorite quotes about theater, again from Boal:
鈥淭he theater is a weapon, and it is聽the people who should wield it!鈥�
Courtesy of The WeatherVane, March 23, 2014