Overture
Community is becoming an art form, a lost science that only the sages in our lives fully understand. Though we are surrounded by people all day, we do not have the same access to connection that we once had.
Is this our fault that we have addictions to pseudoconnective dopamine injections?
Who cares!
However, it would appear that regardless of whose fault it is, it is our problem to deal with.
Luckily, there are countless others, more capable than I, who have solutions. They’re creating and altering public spaces to their communities needs and allowing us all to enter into shared experiences that connect and challenging us to be better together.
It may sound dramatic, but this article is, after all, an ode to theatre; a panegyric for the stage. So, forgive my words of whimsy and affection for alliteration as I explain through pain and pleasure why going to the Theatre is better together.
Prologue
Not too long ago, COVID-19 brought about the pause of many things for us as a community. We said goodbye to things that had been normal and maybe even taken for granted up until then. By all accounts, theatres should have died during COVID. However, they did not.
But why?
After all, we have an infinite supply of award-winning films at home, music by our favorite artists alive and dead, and even interactive forms of theatre that let us help tell the story with our friends in the form of video and board games, so why did theatre return?
I have no answer except that for all of recorded history humanity has had a form of theatre, and at the very heart of all these forms is one thing: That is connection. Theatre is a group spectacle, where we share an experience that reminds us that everything we have ever gone through, COVID or no, we go through together.
There are many kinds of theatres, some provide an intimate, close venue, some an elevated stage, and they all can be used to achieve different things. But the history of theatre reveals to me what I believe the true duty of a local theatre should be and the key to identifying one that is special.
Intermission
Many of us are familiar with Shakespeare, and some of us know about the Greek plays, but three thousand years earlier than that in Africa, the tradition of theatre was already incredibly strong. These plays often had mythological and religious themes and were used to teach people about the ways of the world and to help audience members form a connection with the history and culture of their people. Later, the Greeks adopted these methods and explored complex themes as a society, and told stories of what made humanity special. These examples were shown to the masses, and later in Shakespeare’s famous Globe Theatre, the only place where Queens and peasants gathered together, the audience watched stories of rags, riches, and everything in between. Regardless of status, background, or birth, you had a seat at the Globe and with it a shared communal experience.
This, to me, is theatre, not at all the event on the stage, but the sanctified time of peace that all members of a society can choose to enjoy as an equal member of the community to experience, learn, connect, and grow together.
For that reason, I submit that the best theatres of all are those that put their community and its betterment first.
Finale
Dear Reader,
Surely you read the title in the beginning, and you know that from the beginning, this article is meant to praise the Grand Theater. Still, I implore you to listen to the following events and tell me what other theatres in the world are dedicating their own resources to the betterment of their community, like the Grand here in Wausau? Here are four from just the next two months:
Drum TAO: Wadaiko drums, Japanese harps, and flutes
Women of Americana: Early folk, gospel, and Western swing music celebrating the women who made it.
Social Media Safety: Educating families on how to best navigate the online world.
Community Blood Center Drive: Saving local lives in the community.
These are just four of the events coming in the next two months. The schedule is dedicated to expanding the audiences cultural experiences, providing exposure to art from around the world, appreciating and teaching local culture and history, educating the community, and providing a space for actual physical healing and charity in our community. These events are weaved into a schedule that also features popular artists, renowned musicals, and famous comedians.
Curtain Call
I have no idea how any theatre survived the last 7 years, but to do it with flying colors while maintaining a devotion to their community is a testament to the people who work at the Grand Theater. They have embodied the very spirit of theatre and bring our community, and many other nearby ones, together. The only thing left to do is for all of us to show up ready week after week to support, learn, and laugh together.
See you there!
