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The Magic of Theatre

By Lori Conary, Submissions Editor, Pioneer Drama Service 

There’s nothing quite like live theatre.  That sense of anticipation.  The curtain rising.  The house suddenly filling with a magical sensation that can only be experienced at a live performance.  There is a bond of intimacy between the actors and the audience that simply does not exist in a movie theater.  This feeling of fellowship creates a community that together explores the world unfolding onstage at that particular, unique performance.

We all know that participation in arts on a regular, even daily, basis can have a lifelong impact on the lives of children.  We also know that all the stats in the world about how involvement in the arts improves test scores fall far too often on deaf ears.  Fortunately for students in Boston, just the opposite is true.  Despite a budget stressed as badly as every other inner-city school district, private philanthropists and charitable foundations are stepping up to increase access to arts education for all students.  The city and its schools have likewise made the commitment to increase public funding for arts teachers.  Why?  Because they get it.  According to Boston mayor Thomas Menino and Laura Perille, executive director of a non-profit school reform organization,

Arts have a positive impact on student achievement, motivation and engagement, critical and creative thinking, collaboration and teamwork skills...  We view arts education as a catalyst for renewed energy in the schools, increased engagement by students, and improved school choices for families.

You’ll be inspired when you read more about their model, which will hopefully be replicated across the nation, at Arts education needs to be protected.

Theatre leaves its mark on more than just those onstage and backstage; it also impacts the audience.  Dramatist and theater essayist Lauren Gunderson calls children’s theatre a catalyst for empathy in her blog article, “How Theater for Young People Could Save the World,” [Huffington Post, March 19, 2012]:

“Theater is like a gym for empathy.  It's where we can go to build up the muscles of compassion, to practice listening and understanding and engaging with people that are not just like ourselves.  We practice sitting down, paying attention and learning from other people's actions.  We practice caring.”

As you’re advocating for — or perhaps even fighting for the survival of — your theatre program for next year, keep in mind the power of theatre to transform lives onstage, backstage and in the audience.  Help your administrators envision a generation of engaged students who have skills in teamwork, problem solving and creative thinking, who listen, pay attention, react and care.

We know we’re preaching to the choir here, but if you would like more links to arts advocacy articles, please feel free to contact Pioneer Drama Service.  Like you, we know the magic that is the stage.  That’s why we’re touching lives through theatre...  together.