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Shakespeare wrote, "All the world's a stage." And the great lawyer and statesman Daniel Webster once observed, "If I should have to give up all of my possessions except one, I would choose to keep the power of speech, for with it I could soon enough regain all the rest." Their comments remind us of an old, but still valid truth: there is no power greater than the spoken word.
Why take a Theatre Arts class? Theatre can help us understand the world and our place in it. Theatre reflects and possibly affects its society's view of the world: its history, philosophy, religious attitudes, social structure, theoretical assumptions, its way of thinking about humanity and the world and nature. Each society in history had and still has theatre that can help them learn about their world and can help us to learn about other societies besides our own Theatre has often been used primarily as a teaching mechanism -- throughout history theatre has often been a primary means of teaching. For example, Medieval theatre taught about the Bible and Christianity; Shakespeare's histories can be seen as defending the Elizabethan monarchy. Finally, and simply, the Theatre can be seen as a personal growth catalyst for skills that students will find useful throughout their lives, whether they pursue higher education, or a growing career. Among said useful skills; personal commitment to preparing a show, teamwork, feeling of community in endeavoring to do a job well, personal satisfaction, interpersonal skills, creativity, critical thinking,and self-direction.
---- Erin Housam |