How the Theatre Can Be Used as a Means to Advocate for a Society - Essay Example

How The Theatre Can Be Used As A Means To Advocate For Society By There is more to theatre, cinemas and creative literature than just to entertain and tweak the imaginations of people. If we take a look at the broader side of theatre, cinemas and creative literature, we will see that it can be a powerful tool to awaken the consciousness of the people of the myriad issues that beset society. In Hamlet, Shakespeare himself intimated that theatre indeed can be used to show the people the true imagine of society. However, the role of theatre, cinemas and creative literature does not have to be limited to merely telling the people of what is happening to society. A far more important role of the theatre is to advocate for society and represent the valid cause or interest of social groups or sectors without really going overboard or violating the rights of other people. We must understand that creativity in theatrical performances, in film and other forms of mass media can have tremendous impact on it audience. At the very least, these modes of communication can open the minds of the people to the different issues that beset society. In the more profound way, the theatre, cinemas and creative literature can shape the shape the minds and hearts of their audiences (Moores, Shaun (1993). Although there may a lot of people who do not subscribe to such proposition, thinking that the theatre should only be used to entertain and not to encourage people to be passionate about a cause, the fact that the theatre can have some profound influence upon the people is a good enough reason why using the theatre as an advocate for society is beneficial to the people. In our modern era, the persuasive mediums like the television, the cinemas, print media and the likes have been large responsible for shaping the opinions and sentiments of the people on various issues in society (Chomsky, Noam & Herman, Edward (1988, 2002). If we could harness the power of theatre and channel it to better use, then we can have a powerhouse for educating the people and effecting positive changes in society. The interesting thing about using the power of the theatre is that we enjoy ourselves and unleash our creativity in delivering our message to society. In other words, instead of using the rigid and often static traditional system of advocating for society, we put more life into our message through the use of art. A message that is delivered in a more enjoyable manner often sticks longer in the minds of the audience than a hard-sell message. Why should theatre be an advocate of society instead of just merely a mirror of society? Being a mirror society and presenting the issues of society through arts has it merits but it may not be enough to the change that we want to happen in society. You see, when we merely present facts, we do not put as much energy and conviction into our message as when we advocate for an issue. When we advocate, we make a stand and we present an alternative view to what is happening in society today. For instance, when we talk about issues of violence in society, we can capture scenes of violence on stage or on film but merely capturing scenes of violence on stage and on film will not help stop violence in the real life unless we actually advocate for the reduction or eradication of violence in society. In fact, if we merely show how violence pervades in society to our audience, our audience may not really get the right message. In fact, we may even send out the wrong message to our audience at this point. Note that depicting violence in society on stage and on film may be construed as extolling the idea of violence. You see, the audience may have different perceptions on what they see on stage and on the wide screen of the cinema. No, we are not trying to put down the intellectual capacity of our viewers when we say that our viewers may not really get the message that we are trying to drive into their heads when we create a show that depicts social realities. What we are saying here is that people have different perceptions of what is right or wrong. For instance, if we depict a social reality of poverty and oppression, one group of people may see poverty and oppression as something that people brought upon themselves while another group may see the situation as influenced by societal factors that the people cannot really control. We must understand that a neutral presentation of facts may not be received by the audience as we want it to be. To make sure that we drive home the right message to out audience, we have to be more specific and show our conviction for or against a certain issue. If we do not want violence to rule society, then we say so. Letting our audience decide for themselves what is right or wrong is one thing and leading them towards a conclusions of what is right or wrong is another thing. To create a more emphatic message in our plays and films, we must be more forceful and specific in our messages. Will not making a stand on specific issues of society destroy the neutrality and authenticity of our story? A coin always has two sides. Yes, at some point, we may become too passionate in our advocacy that we tend to mold our stories to suit the kind of reality that we want to project. For instance, a lot of people in field of theatre and the arts become quite passionate when they tackle the issue of democracy that they tend to become bias at some point (Dolan, Jill 2001). Being overly passionate over an issue is not really that bad as long as one understands the truest meaning of social responsibility. In other words, knowing the limits of freedom and the boundaries of what is social acceptable is very important if we are to use the theatre, the cinemas and creative literature to advocate for society (Dolan, Jill 2001). On the other hand, just because there is a possibility that the power of the theatre, cinemas and creative literature may be abused is not enough to negate the idea of using these venues to advocate for society. The key here is social responsibility and the ability to make sound judgments (Curran, J. & Seaton, J. (1988). In the end, the theatre, cinemas and creative literatures are still powerful tools that can be used to make or unmake the society created my human beings. Citations: 1. Chomsky, Noam, and Herman, Edward: Manufacturing Consent, Pantheon Books, 1988 pp. 280-1 2. Curan, J. and Seaton, J. (1988) Power Without Responsibility. Chapter 1 3. Dolan, Jill (2001) Rehearsing Democracy: Advocacy, Public Intellectuals, and Civic Engagement in Theatre and Performance Studies Theatre Topics - Volume 11, Number 1, March 2001, pp. 1-17 4. Moores, Shaun (1993). Interpreting Audiences: The Ethnography of Media Consumption. London: Sage Bibliography 1. Chomsky, Noam, and Herman, Edward: Manufacturing Consent, Pantheon Books, 1988 2. Curan, J. and Seaton, J. (1988) Power Without Responsibility. 3. Dolan, Jill (2001) Rehearsing Democracy: Advocacy, Public Intellectuals, and Civic Engagement in Theatre and Performance Studies Theatre Topics 4. Moores, Shaun (1993). Interpreting Audiences: The Ethnography of Media Consumption. London: Sage Read More