Theatre vs. Movies

The movies were supposed to be the end of theatre. Certainly movies are more popular than than theatre. Still, theatre continues. Why?

Movies have a number of advantages over theatre. One is simply financial. Although most movies cost more to produce than most plays, once a movie is completed it can be run simultaneously on as many screens in as many cities in as many countries as the market will bear. Sure there are still distribution and publicity costs being paid, but the majority of the costs are fixed no matter how many times the movie is replayed. As for theatre, every performance costs money for actors and technicians and space rentals and insurance and on and on. Want to run the same play in multiple cities? Now you need an additional set and additional costumes as well. Oh, yes, and don't forget royalties. Those darn playwrights just insist on getting paid every night!

On an artistic level, movies do spectacle much better. Even in the early days, the capability of what could be done in a studio far surpassed what could be done live on stage. Now the technology makes even more possible. Sure, theatre (usually Broadway) occassionally goes in for the spectacular effects. But no matter how impressive sinking the Titanic on stage may have been, it was only amazing because of the live aspect of it. It was not comparable to the movie Titanic. (And in fact, the musical Titanic suffered from nights when the darn boat wouldn't sink. If it happens in a movie they don't use that cut. The theatre audiences who witness the "bad" nights, understandably, just end up feeling gypped.

So why go to theatre at all?

1. Intimacy
Particularly in a small cast play in a smaller theatre, the audience can feel the energy of the actors/characters. The audience feels this connection. It is impossible to ignore that they are all there together, even if the characters never directly acknowledge that the audience is there. When there is a quiet dramatic scene and you can hear a pin drop in the audience, you know something is special happening. When there is a hilarious comedic scene and the audience is rolling with laughter, they give back to the actors and energize them.

2. Ephemerality
Each performance in theatre only occurs once. Even the most mechanical actors will be slightly different each night. The difference may be an actual technical SNAFU. Generally, the difference is a small bit of timing, a different line delivery. The audience laughs at something no one has ever laughed at or doesn't laugh at something that normally brings down the house. The lead actress cries real tears or doesn't. Sure there is the risk that you will see the show on a "bad" night. But you could see the show on an amazing night. Regardless, it is your night. If there is a movie you love you can watch it over and over again, and it will never change. If there is a play you love you can see subtle differences in nights of the run. Or, moreso, if you see that play in a different production altogether with a different cast, director, and designers, you will get to see it in a whole different way.

3. Spectacle that you create yourself
Last night I was at a reading of a play in progress. During the subsequent discussion one person criticized a scene for being overly cinematic. What he actually meant was that it would be difficult to stage. The director of the reading program noted (I wish I remembered exactly how he worded it) that in film the spectacle is given to you, but in theatre the audience has to create it for themselves. I'd never thought of it that clearly, but that is so true.

Think of the musical The Lion King. The audience suspends their disbelief to allow puppets with visible puppeteers to be animals. The same thing would look absurdly unfinshed in a movie. The audience expects movies to make even the most fantastical stories seem real. Jungle animals need to be CGI (a'la the Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe) or something animatronic.

Even in simpler productions, the audience sees the stage, the percenium, the rest of the audience, yet they allow that to become whatever setting they are told.

In the intimacy, ephemerality, and spectacle of theatre the audience is an active participant. The audience provides energy. They provide part of the soundtrack. And they provide the necessarily imagination to make the show work.

For movies, the audience is simply an observer. For theatre, the audience is part of the ensemble.