Thursday, May 24, 2007

Theater and friendships

One of the reasons that I am so passionate about theater is that theater makes its community a better place to live. It goes far beyond providing an entertainment choice on a given weekend evening. It even goes beyond the role of engaging the community in conversations that matter.

Theater creates a community in which people are drawn together. People become friends through doing shows together, through attending shows together, through volunteering for theater organizations. We are drawn closer to people we meet through theater through the discussions that we have about shows. We learn about what the things that they value, that they care about, that they dream about. Theater becomes a means by which people are drawn to connect with each other.

This weekend I won't be seeing any shows (despite really wanting to make it out to see Kevin Burnham in An Evening with Mark Twain) because I'll be attending a wedding (and the surrounding activities) of two dear friends both of whom I met through theater. It reminds me again what a difference local theater has made in my life.

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