A Life in Theatre. Towards the Simple and the Sacred : The Ubiquitous Moments of Theatre Blog 127

Good Sunday Morning!

Minack theatre in Cornwall

Got to thinking about how theatre is everywhere - imperceptibly as well as obviously. Those of you who have been kind enough to pop in for an occasional or otherwise visit to my blog will know that I have a certain predilection for things ritual and metaphorical. Indeed my daughter told me the other day that she thinks I live my life solely through metaphors and symbols. I hadn't thought of it like that but she may have a point. I certainly love the saturated power of images and poetry - how could you not? However we experience our daily lives and our internal private spaces we cannot fail to understand that we make sense of ourselves and give meaning to things in apparent chaos. We tell ourselves stories, read, play music, write, talk with friends and many other ways that enrich and give meaning to this small time we have here.

And yesterday was one such case in point - a gathering of my oldest friends to celebrate Keith's big birthday in Kent. It was pure theatre - ritual indeed.

I pause for a moment to consider dear old Wiki's definition of theatre and then of ritual - I think they will do for now to serve my point.

Theatre:

Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance. Elements of design and stagecraft are used to enhance the physicality, presence and immediacy of the experience. The specific place of the performance is also named by the word "theatre" as derived from the Ancient Greek θέατρον (théatron, “a place for viewing”), itself from θεάομαι (theáomai, “to see", "to watch", "to observe”).

Modern Western theatre derives in large measure from ancient Greek drama, from which it borrows technical terminology, classification into genres, and many of its themes, stock characters, and plot elements.

Theatre today includes performances of plays and musicals. Although it can be defined broadly to include opera and ballet, those art forms are outside the scope of this article.

Ritual:

Rituals of various kinds are a feature of almost all known human societies, past or present. They include not only the various worship rites and sacraments of organised religions and cults, but also the rites of passage of certain societies, atonement and purification rites, oaths of allegiance, dedication ceremonies, coronations, and presidential inaugurations, marriages and funerals, school "rush" traditions and graduations, club meetings, sports events, Halloween parties, Christmas shopping, birthday celebrations and more. Many activities that are ostensibly performed for concrete purposes, such as jury trials, executions of criminals, and scientific symposia, are loaded with purely symbolic actions prescribed by regulations or tradition, and thus partly ritualistic in nature. Even common actions like hand-shaking and saying hello may be termed rituals.

Its a bit of a no-brainer that we theatre makers are steeped in a deep desire to realise rituals in many varied and unique forms of performance. Its both the simple and the sacred! its really the secret of our job (and yes we do sometimes even get paid for it!)

So to return from this momentary pause for definitions, yesterday was a ritual, therefore a small moment of theatre. It had all the elements - convivial atmosphere, a gathering of people, friends and family in this case. (Theatre as we know it of course is not limited to people who know each other). And then a journey from the beginning to the end marked by moments of retelling of old stories and making up of new, emotional moments including giggles and tears, a good couple of speeches that touched the heart, that make us know we are not alone, shared history and new dreams.

It was all there in the sunny garden in Kent where Ali and Keith welcomed us all. Douglas, their beautiful son back from Australia with his girlfriend Tanya for the celebration spoke movingly to the gathering about how he had learned so much from his dad - his musical education, his dad's passion for his work as a maker of decorative glass, his parents relationship - a powerful beacon for his own. It was beautiful - this young man taking the family story into his future and ours.

And to add to the pleasures - great food and wine prepared by Ali and Keith's niece Nushi.

Of course for me the inevitable spilling of red wine on my new white dress! No wonder my friends think I am a danger to Barking on my new Brompton bike. All I can say is thank goodness for a bar of Vanish and a hot machine wash and my dress is resumed and on the line.