Prompt #4

I think that the rise and growth of physical theatre have definitely opened peoples’ minds regarding the way theatre is performed. Physical theatre was derived from several types of theatre including mime, contemporary dance and Noh. Artaud was, in fact, a huge proponent of physical theatre because he believed that this non-traditional style allowed performers to have a more direct relationship with the audience. Physical theatre breaks the convention that theatre has to involve a proscenium stage, dialogue, etc, and instead allows the audience members to personally interpret the story through movement.

It’s effective because each individual in the audience can interpret the performance in their own specific way. Conventional dialogue can set up walls, because if one doesn’t agree with the words being said, it is easy to shut off and not be opened minded towards the rest of the performance. On the other hand, because physical theatre is so open to interpretation, it can reach an extremely broad audience. More people can find a message within the performance that he or she relates to on a personal level.

I believe that we can bring theatre to our communities by making it more minimalistic. Theatre can be performed in any venue at any time, so why isn’t it? It doesn’t take a full-scale theatre, lighting design and set to create a piece of moving theatre, it takes people that are passionate and want to share a message with the world. Bringing theatre to streets, coffeehouses, museums, schools, any less-likely venue would make it more relevant. Although there is something wonderful about a fully fleshed out production on a proscenium stage, I think that 21^st century individuals crave basic connections because they don’t often receive them. Creating theatre that solely focuses on people, and the now, and human connection, is the key to bringing it to the lives of others in the 21^st century.