Theatre critic Kenneth Tynan once said, “No theater could sanely flourish until there was an umbilical connection between what was happening on the stage and what was happening in the world.” A theatre is a form of art that plays a significant role in our society. For a story to be loved and appreciated, it must be relatable to its audience; in the same manner, for theatre to be relevant, it must have a symbiotic relationship with society.
“Even though we are all individual and unique in our own way, we are also the products and the producers of our society and our culture. The society and culture we grow up in is a part of us: what we do and the attitudes we take will either confirm the way society is or make changes in it. The arts are a visible demonstration and outward realization of our culture. The arts interpret cultural beliefs; often, the words are used synonymously.” (Mackey 208) Society and art are intertwined. Throughout history, each era has been a representation of the people’s thoughts at that time. The Renaissance, the Enlightenment and etc., are reflections of the thought incumbent in the minds of the people at the time. The works of art produced in those time periods reflect the cultural and societal implications. Out of all the forms of art, theatre is the closest to society. “Theatre is the most social of the arts. For example, social relationships are in action not only on stage and in the audience, but also in the relationship between what’s happening on the stage and the audience.” (Mackey 208). When a person is viewing theatre, they watch all the relationships that exist in society played out in front of them. Romeo and Juliet show the relationship between two lovers, and the person watching forms a relationship with what is being portrayed. The person either relates to it because that’s something he is familiar with or hopes to become familiar with. Theatre is surrounded by human relationships. It is set in an environment that is social, and it is presented in a social manner. (Mackey 208) Theatre is theatre because it is so relevant to society.
Plato argued that the work of art is “thrice removed from the truth.” (Schweiker 8) On the other hand, Aristotle believed poetry to be a universal statement of truth. Looking at the larger picture and replacing poetry with theatre as the form of art, Plato’s argument is aligned with the notion that there must be a symbiosis between theatre and society. If we look at the theatre today, it is an impersonation of societal happenings. Plays can be differentiated by how their content is reflected as an affiliation to its society and the time period. For example, in May 1968, political events in Paris brought a change in theatre for that particular time period in the neighboring country. “Students and workers fought together for political change, and students occupied theatres and art galleries. This united action created a belief that society could be changed through the solidarity of the middle and the working classes. The hopes and the ideals of the Paris rebellion inspired young Britons and were incorporated into the aims of the new political theatre.” (Mackey 217) The happenings in society mold what is seen in the theatres or what theatres hope to mold society into. Both are forms of imitation that help each other move forward.
Theatre as a form of art serves two purposes to society: instrumental and aesthetical. Instrumentally, theatre revolutionizes and inspires by portraying what could become of society and what has become of it. Aesthetically, theatre takes us away into a different world of imitation being performed on stage. “Imitation also explains the painful disparity between our ideas and actual disparity.” (Schweiker 8) Every person has a dream, a fantasy, or a desire they want to fulfill. Since childhood, we are told to dream, imagine and think about what our futures will be like. When we are older, we realize that reality is quite distant from what we hoped it would be. For some people making fantasies, the reality is easy; they can set their mind onto something and get what they desire provided they have all the resources available. For people who don’t have all the resources, the only thing that remains is the dream or desire that they have. Theatre being an imitation and portrayal of society can is relevant to the remorseless when it paints a picture of their dream, their desire. Their fantasy is thrice removed from the actual truth, but the fact that the fantasy is still there is a universal statement of truth. Both the philosophies, combined the instrumental and the aesthete, make theatre relevant to society because it is an imitation of society, it either portrays the change that should be brought about or the change the people wish was brought about.
To analyze theatre and understand why it must be so intertwined with particular societal and cultural inferences to be relevant, it is important to understand the job of a playwright. A translator can be anyone who replaces words of one language with another. A translator simply decodes a message so it can be encoded by the receiver. A playwright, on the other hand, takes a play and molds it so it can be relevant to his own society. For example, “In Finland, the question of a right to one’s own culture was an important issue in the literary circles in the nineteenth century, and plans were to set up a Finnish Literature and a Finnish National Theatre. The first Shakespeare translation of Macbeth into Finnish took part in the discussion by rewriting the play from within the Finnish culture as a piece of Finnish history. It was given the task to demonstrate that Finns were a nation in their own right with a past that one could be proud of.” (Aaltonen 90) This is the prime example of how theatre is most relevant when it is in symbiosis with society. For the Finns, having their own history as the part of a play that would be performed on stage reflects how important society is to people, especially their own society. If the play had been produced just as it is, it might not have created a positive response with the Finns. For example, there are many lessons parents teach their kids. One lesson every parent teaches his or her child is the universal lesson of speaking the truth. In a Christian country, a biblical reference would be used; in a Muslim country, an Islamic story might be used, and in the Far East, perhaps a parable with Buddhist influence. In the same way, Macbeth’s universal theme stayed in place while the Finns tweaked it to make it more relevant to them and their past.
Theatre is the most social form of art and the closest to society. Theatre is a representation of society, sometimes thrice removed from the truth and the other times quite steadfast with the truth. Theatre can be revolutionary or escapist, the former by instrumental means the latter by aesthetic ones. Either way, it must behave an umbilical connection to the society’s current collective mood of thought to flourish fully and make an impact.
Works Cited
Aaltonen, Sirkku. Time-Sharing on Stage Drama Translation in Theatre and Society. Topics in translation, 17. Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters, 2000.
Mackey, Sally. Practical Theatre: A Post-16 Approach. Cheltenham: S. Thornes, 1997.
“Renaissance and Reformation.” History of Theatre. Tupelo Community Theatre. 2008. Web.
Schweiker, William. Mimetic Reflections: A Study in Hermeneutics, Theology, and Ethics. New York: Fordham University Press, 1990.