Please Take Your Seats
Illustration by Samuel King
When I’m not obsessively scrolling through Pinterest or driving past my own house on google street view, I really enjoy watching video essays on Youtube. Recently, one of my favourite creators, Jordan Theresa, brought up this idea that has stuck with me ever since:
People yearn for the town square.
Theresa addresses the recent media mania surrounding celebrity look-alike contests (you’ve most likely seen clips of Timothee Chalamet showing up to his own look-alike competition), enticing large groups of people to meet in common public areas to judge these silly little contests. These events usually lack any sort of prize for the winner, but rather focus on bringing people together to share in the absurdity of the activity. Theresa argues that young people yearn for the community of a town square. To me, a town square is the image of a large public space where anyone and everyone can gather and embrace their community. Maybe in the days when town squares were actually a thing, it was probably more like appreciating a public stoning or some sort of court jester, but I digress. Town squares throughout history have been used for a variety of purposes, but the core of their existence has always been to bring people together, from announcements to entertainment, enabling people to participate in a community. The overall sense of a ‘town square’ here is the concept of creating a space of natural human interaction and critical thinking.
“Ok, cool, but where are you going with this?” I’ll tell you, but you’re not allowed to call me a theatre kid…stage productions!
Don’t get me wrong, movies and TV shows are still great- I’ll prove it by begging anyone within a mile around me to watch Derry Girls so we can discuss it at length. But there is no feeling that compares to sitting in a theatre, watching both cast and crew put their passion and skill to work on stage. The event of getting dressed up and heading to the theatre, of waiting for the lights to dim. It can’t be replicated. It’s also a medium that can’t be immediately reduced into a Letterboxd review, or other forms of impulsive response, which only provide quick and witty summaries of a plot. Entertainment in the form of stage productions forces audiences to take the time to think critically about what’s happening in real time, both during and after the production. As well, it creates a sense of community within shared values or senses of humour, thus perpetuating the ‘town square’ theory.
Ever since I can remember, my cousin and I have adored the Mamma Mia! Films. At this point, we can confidently quote them back-to-front with our eyes closed. Although she lives in England and I in Canada, it has always been something that connects us over the vast miles between us. Over Christmas break a couple years ago, our parents gifted us tickets to see the Mamma Mia! production on the West End in London. We struggled to contain our excitement so much, I’m pretty sure neither of us slept the night before. Even though it was the same dialogue, characters, and songs as the movie, there was something so unbelievably magical about the live performance in front of us. We spent the entire ride home on the tube dancing and singing our hearts out despite probably being slightly too old to do so. The feel of the live show reinforced this ‘town square’ idea for me, because it allowed space for the audience to experience the same joy and laughter that the characters were experiencing through song. The audience, no matter differences in age or identities, became a community in itself. More recently, I was in New York City for a weekend with my dad back in November and we were lucky enough to go see Romeo and Juliet, starring Rachel Zegler and Kit Connor amongst so many other amazing young performers. The sentiment of theatre was reiterated to me once again and I was able to experience stellar performances from both cast and crew, as well as form an irreplaceable memory with my dad that I constantly look back on.
(Another bonus of this particular experience was the fun reality check that comes with the realization that the actor onstage in front of you is the exact same age as you, except one of you is performing on Broadway six days a week and the others entire mental health depends on how fast she can finish the New York Times mini crossword each day.)
Overall, we need theatre. We need it to create a community in a physical space to discuss shared values, likes, and dislikes in real time, instead of in a comment section. We need it to showcase talent and skill from actors just beginning their careers as well as seasoned professionals. We need it to provide culture and a sense of living in what can be, let’s face it, some pretty bleak times. Theatre gives us an opportunity to experience real community within the arts without feeling like you have to think or feel a certain way to fit in. Unfortunately, live theatre shows are becoming more expensive and therefore less accessible. But the sentiment behind the significance of the live performance is enough to keep it alive.