Yes, Greg, There Is a Thing Called Theatre!
Blog 54
“What good is sitting alone In your room?
Come hear the music play.
Life is a cabaret, old chum,
Come to the cabaret.”
Music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb, Cabaret
At the end of an already hard day, I read on a friend’s Facebook post that our neighboring state’s Jacksonville University in Florida is totally cutting music and theatre programs from its offerings. To save $10 million, they are reorganizing, affecting 100 students and 40 faculty members. The changes are intended to align the university’s courses with the needs of “today’s working world,” cutting what JU calls “consistently undersubscribed and specialized fields of study.” They want to concentrate on programs in nursing, business, law, marine science, engineering, finance, aviation, psychology, communication sciences and disorders, and fine arts — but no performing arts.
When I taught in the theatre department at Samford University, I loved, and was truly devoted to the drama majors. They flocked to my classes in costume design, theatre makeup, play writing, and costume history. And those jillions of hours spent in class were filled with the joy of their learning their future trade. Some actually went into theatre, but others into law, business, teaching, and more. Theatre is a solid foundation for almost any profession in the world.
However, my very favorite class was Theatre Appreciation. At the time, almost every undergraduate on campus had to take two of three offerings of theatre, art, or music appreciation. I had a variety of students from all different backgrounds, hometowns, and interests. One of my passions was to take those non-majors, those young people who were lukewarm — or who even thought they disliked — theatre and turn them into regular playgoers.
Across a semester, they met characters in plays who stretched their empathy and understanding, compelling them to see differing perspectives on life. They saw how theatre can inspire personal development and spark reflection. In turn, they examined their own values and beliefs in light of what they saw in the characters and themes depicted onstage. Eyes were opened to the huge complexity of putting on a production, to the differing talents and skills needed, to the time and effort put into making a script come to life.
Actors taking a bow in Terrific New Theatre’s Tiny Beautiful Things.
From almost every one of my Appreciation classes, we gained a theatre major who, through the course of their studies, had fallen in love with the art. Often, people need an introduction to a field they didn’t even know existed. On the very same evening that I read about Jacksonville University’s downfall, Roger and I went to Terrific New Theatre in downtown Birmingham to see their play Tiny Beautiful Things. As we sipped some beverages in the lobby, we struck up a conversation with a young man who told us this was his first play to ever see!
Greg is a student at our local Jefferson State Community College, and he is enrolled in a Theatre Appreciation class. His professor gave him and his colleagues the assignment of going somewhere in town to see a live play, and that is how he ended up talking to us at TNT. He was already grateful to know about an art form he had not grown up interacting with. Greg said he was thankful to realize that all throughout his hometown he could experience theatres of all kinds: youth, professional, community, academic! And what’s more, at the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center, he discovered audiences can even watch Broadway musicals when the shows tour to our town.
Greg is the reason Jacksonville University needs to keep the performing arts on its campus. Oh, I know they won’t. But theatre and music departments don’t just affect their own majors. They don’t just support their usually underpaid faculty members. These two arts open the minds and hearts of untold members of the university and surrounding communities. For both participants and audiences, theatre and music improve cognitive skills, boost creativity, foster empathy, and encourage connection. These programs are investments in the cultural life of a university, promoting social unity, continuing historic art forms, exposing audiences to much more than entertainment.
As Inside Higher Ed has proclaimed, “Among adults, arts participation is demonstrably related to behaviors that contribute to the health of civil society, such as increased civic engagement, greater social tolerance and reductions in other-regarding behavior. As philosopher Martha Nussbaum eloquently argues in Not for Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities, ‘Humanities and arts provide skills that are essential to keep democracy healthy.’”
The immersive nature of theatre and music creates a powerful emotional experience, leaving a lasting impression on audiences. After Tiny Beautiful Things, Greg said, “Oh, I can’t believe how touched I was, how many emotions I felt. All those humans portrayed — they were just like real people with challenges and problems they had to deal with right before our eyes.”
Yes, Greg! Live theatre has immediacy. The audience has a direct experience, where the performance is unfolding in real-time right before their eyes. And that, is significant. No matter if the story is funny, sad, tragic, triumphant, or all of these; people leave not only entertained, but encouraged to open up to life and make some changes. We have walked in other people’s shoes. Now where are we going to walk in ours? Sadly, not to Jacksonville University.