A Wedding Ceremony and Theatre - Essay Example

 Throughout history and including the contemporary time, theatre has permeated and informed almost every aspect of human life (Wilson & Goldfarb 23). Kevin Brown asserts that theatre performance has and still continues to be a universal cultural phenomenon present in every society around the world (n.p.). In addition, through theatre, human beings are able to express themselves effectively, develop their ability to communicate their feelings and thoughts to other people, improve relationships, as well as improve the world in general ( Cole 27). People use theatre to understand how their minds and those of other work. It facilitates individuals to have a comprehension of their settings and how the environment influences their daily activities (Ibsen 8). According to Howard Shalwitz, a Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company Artistic Director, there are seven reasons why theatre is important to humanity (n.p.). First, theatre does not inflict harm of any kind to people but instead, offer people an avenue to engage in positive social acts. Second, theatre promotes complex basic human expression. Third, theatre unites people because they gather to witness a theatrical performance. Fourth, theatre contributes to literacy and education. Fifth, theatre models societies to embrace democracy. Sixth, theatre contributes to economic growth through the revenue generated by theatrical performance. Finally, theatre influences human behavior and values. In this paper, a discourse of how a wedding ceremony, a common event in many societies around the world, is related to theatre is discussed. As pointed out earlier, theatre is an integral aspect of human life. From a broader perspective, theatre can be said to be everywhere around people. A wedding ceremony is an excellent example of a theatrical performance that the bride and the bridegroom perform unwittingly to the guests. At the same time, the guests to a wedding are an audience to the performance of the bride and the bridegroom, their respective family members, bridesmaids, priest, and groomsmen. In a wedding situation, there is meticulous planning prior to the actual ceremony. A wedding planning phase can be considered as a period when both the bride and bridegroom and their respective families go through the ‘script’ of the scheduled ‘performance’. Meanwhile, the bridegroom and the bride and their respective families send invitation cards to their close friends and kin. The wedding invitation cards, in a theatre scenario, symbolize ‘tickets’ of entry to the ‘performance arena’ which in reality is the venue of the wedding ceremony. Critical perspectives of typical wedding ceremonies across societies around the world reflect some theatrical elements that include: uniforms or costumes, spectators and performers, and a ritualistic framework (Wilson & Goldfarb 25). In the United States for instance, several factors such as culture, social norms, and culture forms the basis of the majority wedding ceremonies. Before the wedding ceremony, most brides have ceremonies that are commonly identified as ‘bridal showers’. The bridal showers are mainly organized and managed by the bride’s preferred maid of honor. Often, bridal showers have an element of humor and surprise and involve the giving of gifts to the bride by the guests. In many instances, couples who intend to hold a wedding ceremony take all precautions to ensure they do not meet the bridegroom until the wedding ceremony date. During the wedding ceremony, it is a tradition to include groomsmen and bridesmaids in the event. The bridal party members are chosen so as to share in the happiness with the bride and the bridegroom. Incidentally, the inclusion of bridesmaids in the wedding ceremony is believed to have its origin as a technique used in the past to confuse evil spirits as to who is the actual bride. On the other hand, groomsmen purpose originated centuries ago when men had to assist the bridegrooms the capture the women they intended to marry. Thus, the bridesmaids and groomsmen in the wedding ceremony of modern time in the United States serve a symbolic purpose. In the present conventional wedding ceremony in the United States, it has become a common practice for the bride’s father to walk down the aisle with the bride as a sign of approval to the union. When concluding the ceremony, both the bride and the bridegroom often kiss. The kissing is said to symbolize the sealing of the agreement to live as husband and wife, in good and bad health and circumstances, till death do them part. Conversely, wedding cakes in the ceremony symbolize the fertility of the newly wed. The sharing of the initial piece of cake is considered as a ritual that is aimed at ensuring that the bride would be fertile in her endeavor to have children. There is a looming superstition in most of the weddings in the United States that a bride cannot taste or bake her wedding cake ceremony because she would be at the peril of losing the love of her to-be husband. Moreover, if after the wedding she keeps a piece of the cake, it is believed that she would be ensuring that her husband would remain faithful throughout their marriage life. The guests participating in the ceremony participate in giving the groom and the bride a luck future by throwing rice. The superstition behind the throwing of rice is a belief that it would bring the newly wed a good harvest. At the same time, the couple would have many children that would help them with the harvest. Similarly, the throwing of the bride's garter to the unmarried or single men at the ceremony is similar to the traditional bouquet toss. The bridegroom is supposed to remove the garter from the leg of his new wife and fling it to the single men at the wedding ceremony. It is usually believed that the man who gets hold of the garter will be the next one to get married. Accordingly, the wedding ceremonies in the United States, and even in most other countries around the world, possess all the theatrical elements. The costume worn by the bride is unique and different from the guests. The groomsmen and bridesmaid are dressed in noticeable identical uniforms. The sharing of a cake in the ceremony is ritualistic, an element of theater. The guests are the participants or spectators of the performance and do play the important role of being witnesses to the union, which in any case is a type of a contract. Also, the guests as participants of the ‘performance’ by the bride and bridegroom and their respective family members, groomsmen, bridesmaids, the priest play the role of wishing the couple good luck in their marriage. They do so by throwing rice, a symbolic activity that represents luck. The wedding ceremony fully accommodates the concepts about theatre and performance we have considered in class because it possess all the exceptional elements for the same. Works Cited Brown, Kevin. The Top Ten Reasons Why Theatre is Still Important in the Twenty-First Century. n.d. 9 August 2015 .Web. Brown, Kevin. The Top Ten Reasons Why Theatre is Still Important in the Twenty-First Century. n.d. 9 August 2015 . Web. Cole, Toby. Acting: a handbook of the Stanislavski method. New York, NY: Three Rivers Press, 1995. Print. Ibsen, A Doll House (1879), translation by Rolf Fjelde. Print. Shalwitz, Howard . 7 Reasons Why Theatre Makes Our Lives Better. 27 October 2011. 9 August 2015 . Web. Wilson, Edwin, and Alvin Goldfarb. Theatre: The lively art. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2012. Print. Read More