In Act II of “As You Like It,” William Shakespeare wrote that all the world was a stage.
This monologue draws on the notion that humans all have roles to play in the drama of life. While we have control over our actions, the speech sets forth the idea that we are all actors playing certain roles – spouse, friend, child, worker, etc. Over the course of our lives, we play many roles.
– William Shakespeare, As You Like It (Act II, Scene VII)
All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts…
Essentially, Shakespeare presents the idea that the theater, and the arts in general, represent real life. The daily drama, comedy, and tragedy humans go through comes alive through plays, music, and other artistic performances.
I tend to think Shakespeare is right. Although real life doesn’t often involve people bursting into song to tell others what happened that day (although they should!), art reflects life. What makes seeing a play or musical so mesmerizing is that the actors put their own emotion and creativity into telling the story, all in an effort to share that vision with an audience filled with diverse backgrounds and opinions.
CURTAIN GOING UP
I am fortunate enough to live in a city that has a performing arts center. While we aren’t a large market, meaning big shows sometimes take several years to bring touring companies here, the theater management does a great job of bringing in world class acts from all ranges of artistic expression.
And while my primary choice for expressing my own creative spirit is writing, I love attending performances at our theater. I am partial to Broadway style productions and musicals. Some recent ones I’ve seen are Jersey Boys, Book of Mormon, and Spamalot. But I’ve also attended numerous performances by world famous symphonies, solo performers like flutist James Galway, and ballets headlined by Misty Copeland.
Each performance is unique and filled with the performers’ passion.
However, attending a live theatrical performance goes beyond personal enjoyment. I always leave the theater with a renewed sense of creative energy for my own work. And when I need a little creative boost at home, I often find myself turning to musical soundtracks. They remind me of shows I’ve seen, and give me that extra spark of creativity I need.
BREAK A LEG
When it comes to creativity, there are benefits from your own work. But there are also many reasons why seeing others being creative sparks your own energy.
1. Emotional Connections
One of the most powerful parts of seeing a play or musical centers around the emotion coming from the performers. Good actors can bring a full range of emotion to the characters they portray. In order to do justice to a performance, actors spend countless hours perfecting their technique, not only learning lines and choreography, but also how to make the character seem like a real person. Being able to show real joy, fear, sadness, and confusion in a fictional character takes great skill. But for those actors who can artfully bring those emotions to the stage, audience members feel the same struggles and happiness of the character. That’s the same kind of connection a writer wants to make with readers. Being able to bring real emotion to a fictional character on the page of a book takes practice.
2. Visual Connection
In addition to the actual performance, one of the best ways to get creative inspiration at the theater is by taking in the full stage. The costumes, backdrops, scenery, and lighting are crucial to the overall quality of a play or musical. Paying attention to the colors and images behind the actors provides inspiration for your own images, whether that’s in a written form, or in painting and music. The details that costume designers and stagecraft crews add to their creative work are integral to the story presented on stage. That same attention to visual detail will enhance your own creative work.
3. Human Connection
A third pillar the theater experience involves the themes presented in a play or musical. Theater gives audiences a chance to experience life in someone else’s shoes. Seeing a character go through discrimination at the hands of the others in town, a family dealing with political and religious change, or a teenage girl trying to find her voice, theater allows the audience to consider the lives of others. As a result, creative inspiration for your own work is found by thinking about he lives of others. For writers, thinking of your characters as real people makes them more realistic to readers. And whatever the creative form, your readers and fans are real people. They need to see themselves in your work.
4. Story Connection
For many, going to the theater is about stepping away from their lives for a chance to be entertained. Regardless of who the actors are, audiences still want to get lost in a good story. They expect to be transported to a different time and place. When you see a great story unfold on the stage, your own sense of storytelling grows. The narrative arc of a play or musical varies, from showing a single story line that takes place over a short period of time, to weaving multiple stories together over a period of years. Seeing how playwrights use dialogue, costumes, and scenery to help tell their stories provides a creative challenge for a fiction writer or painter. The medium may be different, but creative expression through words, images, or music still rely on creating sights and sounds that draw an audience into the story.
THE SHOW MUST GO ON
The one drawback of live theater is that it can be expensive. Depending on where you see a professional production, tickets can range anywhere from $40 to hundreds of dollars for popular shows. Thankfully, many local performing arts centers offer discounts if you purchase tickets for multiple shows and/or offer season ticket packages for the best prices and first choice of seats.
If ticket price is an issue, there are plenty of low-cost options for a theatrical show. While the quality of the show might not quite be the caliber of a Broadway touring company, local theater groups and high schools or colleges often put on several shows a year. There are summer Shakespeare series. And there are community amateur productions for special events. These are great ways to support not only your community, but also the young actors, musicians, stage techs, and costume designers who aspire to reach those Broadway stages.
CHALLENGE: If you’ve never been to a live theatrical performance, I urge you to give it a try. At the very least, you’ll have a few hours away from your normal routine to enjoy a show. But from my experience, you’ll walk away with a new sense of creative energy and an appreciation for finding new ways to connect with your own audience, whatever form your creative work takes.
Reignite your creativity!
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