Theatre – a Passion Thing

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THEATRE – A PASSION THING
To be in 'Theatre' is mostly a 'life's work'. It's no 9 – 5 job. Is Theatre a normally profitable business to get into? – No not really. Is it more a case of Rags to Riches? – Yes sometimes. So why is Theatre a 'life's work' for so many?

Visitors go to the theatre as often as they can. A trip to Soho and Covent Garden is never complete without taking in a show. The theatre is a subject of fascination to many more people than the ones who regularly go to a play or a musical. Though often an argued point, to be a star in the theatre is a greater accolade than to be a screen star (whatever size the screen may be).

Waiting for a part is called resting and a lot of 'resting' goes on for the majority of actors! Yet acting schools are as full as ever. There seems to be an indication however that the public are getting more interested in Theatre if only because fringe theatre is growing, as TV ratings fall.

The argument between different pollsters about their methods of 'finding out who watches what', is still going on. However the TV ratings, so desperately needed to sell advertising space, are apparently falling whether they measure by Coronation Street of Footballers Wives.

One might ask - do these programmes have the appeal they once had? Or is it just that people are generally bored with sitting at home glued to the box night after night? Compared to going out and watching real people play in the theatre, there's little doubt what the answer would be – to the question 'TV or a night out going to a play?' Were it not for the travel and the babysitting

The Independent has said that people might shift more if tickets cost less but it's doubtful that it's all to do with the money. Fans of bands and football somehow raise significant cash to see their heros live. It's to do with passion.

The theatre is a real source for enthusiasm and live people getting involved with the very real activity it takes to put on a show. The sharp end is always the actor and director as it is with music where the musicians are perceived to be in the limelight. Behind the scenes (an expression much used in everyday language) the enthusiasm and love for the work goes much deeper. There is a cast behind the cast and behind that there are many guardians who make sure that theatres stay alive for the shows to go on. The swing gang.

The momentum behind theatre has been a force to reckon with for centuries. However much the money simply has to be found, and the producers are the ones who just have to find it. Somehow one has to notice that the 'dark' theatre is not as common as it has been. It's not so long ago that many hundred theatres were demolished to develop the land they stood on. Money driven decisions became commonplace before it was noticed. Had it been left to financially led decisions alone – there would be only a few of the original theatres left.

Theatre groups like the Ambassador Theatre Group, Really Useful Theatres and Delfont Mackintosh Theatres have formed to protect theatres and to run them so they are not so often dark or turned in to nightclubs. There are plenty of plays that people want to see. The passion for the theatre has proved to be stronger than the relentless pursuit of making more money.

In twenty years time - who knows? It is likely that the passion will grow and a wider public will prefer to see a play than to watch TV. In the end though the saying of Shakespeare about actors (and theatre) rings in everyone's ears

"We who live to please must please to live"