Posts Tagged ‘Broadway’

Theater in the age of Movies

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Today, when the commercial cinema is minting money like anything, on the basis of special effects, out of the world graphics, incredible equipment and astounding props and objects, Where can we place theater in the field of entertainment? Is it neglected, underrated? Is it still considered not a good career option or may be only a step towards Hollywood? Are films the ultimate destination for every theater artist? Can theater be an end in itself? All these questions have risen due to status theater has acquired these days.

Movies has reduced theater to be the preference of a few elites. The common man would definitely opt for commercial cinema instead of a theater production. So can we say that theater is totally ignored and is not patronized by anyone at all? Well, not really, as good Broadway productions in New York and other famous plays do get sold out and turn out to be huge commercial successes. However, more often plays often go unnoticed and are eclipsed by the film industry. Theater needs to be promoted and appreciated widely, probably thats the reason why many people are apprehensive about adopting it is as a full time career.

Evolution of Theater through the years

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Theater has constantly been undergoing many changes. People involved in the theater continue to experiment and bring in different innovations. Dramatics art reached its peak during the age of Shakespeare and has been progressing since then. These days many revolutionizing forms of theater have emerged such as Black Theater, Musical Theater, Absurd Theater, Broadway Theater, etc.

Evolution of different genres in theater is dependent on many factors such as place of origin, political scenario, etc. For eg. Political theater became quite popular in Post-revolutionary Russia. Also sometimes circumstances in society play a very important role in directing the course of a particular theater movement. For instance, post the world wars, existential and absurd theater became the norm and focused on the futility of living. Unites States saw intense changes in the stagecraft and spectacle. The creative novelty and innovations reached US and transformed the theater production there. Some of the examples are Pins and Needles, One third of a Nation, Triple-A Ploughed Under among others.