Know anything about theatre?

Question:An important theatre scholar refers to Theatre as “a living art form”. Do you think that this is a true analogy? What might he mean when he says that theatre is a living art form?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: An important theatre scholar refers to Theatre as “a living art form”. Do you think that this is a true analogy? What might he mean when he says that theatre is a living art form?

The reason why he refers to it as a "living art form" isn't because it is being performed live or anything like that. It is because it changes and develops and grows over time. Theatre goes through phases and stages like a human or other animal. It moves, it expands, it contracts. Theatre is a living art form because it never stops changing. It has grown from the greeks praising dionysus and Zeus and the other gods that they believed in to now street theatre, experimental theatre, theatre for social change and etc. Theatre never stays in one state. It goes through rebellious stages, religious stages, pop, punk, country music. hip-hop musicals are becoming rather wide-spread now as well. There is always something new, theatre never lies dead. The analogy or metaphor or what-have-you is basically saying that theatre never stays still, and it's always going somewhere new.

I agree with this. He may be saying that theatre is a living art form because most art is still (painting, sculptures, drawings, music, etc.) It is still because it does not change, whereas theatre can only be art whenever it is live and there is always the chance of error where improvisation (such as improvisation that we do in real life) may need to happen.

Theatre only exists when it is being performed live in front of an audience. If is is recorded in any way, it ceases to be "theatre" and becomes something else, such as a film or a recording of theatre which are not theatre in the strictest sense. The same is true of dance and musical performance.

id say thats a great way to describe it becuse unlike art or poetry it cant be put in a book or on a shelf it can only be seen, in its truest form, live on a stage with an audience.
an thats as living as it gets

Oh, Great Blue Jumping Jehosephat! Save me from Important Theatre Scholars!

Theatre, unlike painting and sculpture, is ephemeral and mutable. A single performance is never the same as another performance. Theatre is a One Shot Deal. Once the performance is over, that's it.

One can view Michelangelo's David or Picasso's Guernica today, and revel in the artistry. One can only read about the great performances of Will Kemp or Sarah Siddons.

Theatre is a "living art form" because it is born in rehearsal, lives under the lights, and dies at Closing.

Not a bad turn of phrase, if I do say so.

Perhaps I might be an Important Theatre Scholar some day. I got the lingo down pat.