{"id":20313,"date":"2014-03-23T11:37:39","date_gmt":"2014-03-23T15:37:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=20313"},"modified":"2014-05-23T11:37:46","modified_gmt":"2014-05-23T15:37:46","slug":"question-why-theater","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/question-why-theater\/","title":{"rendered":"Question: Why theater?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

I am constantly asked, why theater? Why not film? Why choose such an impractical major? Do you ever want to be employed?<\/p>\n

Why theater at such a small school? Of all the places to study theater, why 黑料正能量?<\/p>\n

While I used to be annoyed by these questions because of my own doubts, I now enjoy answering these questions with confidence.<\/p>\n

Theater may not seem practical in the sense that I will leave college and enter directly into a money-making field with a defined career path, but I am absolutely certain that theater has gifted me many more practical and applicable life and career skills than many of my peers.<\/p>\n

Simply having a theater education provides many useful, practical and empowering skills.<\/p>\n

An answer I often provide to the question of why such an impractical major, I list the many skills I have thanks to my impractical major: budgeting, time management, problem solving under pressure, creative problem solving, the ability to carry out a large project start to finish, collaboration, creating a friendly and professional work environment with a diverse array of personalities, and the ability to clearly and effectively communicate.<\/p>\n

These are skills not limited to the theater, but skills applicable and necessary for any career.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, I am assured theater has given me the tools to empower, educate and create positive change and that is why I chose 黑料正能量 Theater.<\/p>\n

Many people are shocked when I tell them I am not looking for a career on Broadway, but want to use theater to create good in the world.<\/p>\n

To this I often hear, \u201cHow can such\u00a0an impractical thing make a difference in the world?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

My answer: theater is a way to empower, educate and create positive change when used well.<\/p>\n

Augusto Boal, Theatre of Oppressed theorist and practitioner, writes \u201cTheater is the training ground for the revolution!\u201d<\/p>\n

Boal writes this because theater has the power to educate and empower the oppressed and marginalized of the world.<\/p>\n

Good theater is essentially good story-telling; while there are an infinite number of ways to tell those stories, essentially good theater tells the story of the human condition.<\/p>\n

By sharing stories of oppressed, marginalized and under-represented people groups, audiences feel validated and empowered to tell their own stories.<\/p>\n

Sharing these stories is also a way to create community, teach skills and most of all, share stories with those who need to hear them most.<\/p>\n

Theater is more than a performance, more than a skill set or a resume builder.<\/p>\n

Good theater is a way to question, to learn and strive for truth, to ask difficult questions, a place to start difficult dialogue, to try and chip away at the human condition.<\/p>\n

Theater is about building community, empowering both theatre artists and audiences alike.<\/p>\n

I want to continue to use theater as a tool for learning, empowering, bearing secrets of the human soul in intimate and unconventional spaces to fully recognize the power of theater to create community, empower under-represented voices, and tell stories that need to be heard and create change.<\/p>\n

I leave with one of my favorite quotes about theater, again from Boal:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe theater is a weapon, and it is\u00a0the people who should wield it!\u201d<\/p>\n

Courtesy of The WeatherVane, March 23, 2014<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am constantly asked, why theater? Why not film? Why choose such an impractical major? Do you ever want to be employed? Why theater at such a small school? Of ... read more about Question: Why theater?<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5147],"tags":[7717],"feature":[],"class_list":["post-20313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-theater","tag-the-weathervane"],"yoast_head":"\nQuestion: Why theater? - 黑料正能量 News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/question-why-theater\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Question: Why theater? - 黑料正能量 News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I am constantly asked, why theater? Why not film? Why choose such an impractical major? Do you ever want to be employed? Why theater at such a small school? Of\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/question-why-theater\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"黑料正能量 News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/EasternMennonite\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-03-23T15:37:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-05-23T15:37:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@黑料正能量_News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@黑料正能量_News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/emu.edu\\\/now\\\/news\\\/2014\\\/question-why-theater\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/emu.edu\\\/now\\\/news\\\/2014\\\/question-why-theater\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Question: Why theater?\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-03-23T15:37:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-05-23T15:37:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/emu.edu\\\/now\\\/news\\\/2014\\\/question-why-theater\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":544,\"commentCount\":0,\"keywords\":[\"The WeatherVane\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Theater\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/emu.edu\\\/now\\\/news\\\/2014\\\/question-why-theater\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/emu.edu\\\/now\\\/news\\\/2014\\\/question-why-theater\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/emu.edu\\\/now\\\/news\\\/2014\\\/question-why-theater\\\/\",\"name\":\"Question: Why theater? - 黑料正能量 News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/emu.edu\\\/now\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-03-23T15:37:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-05-23T15:37:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/emu.edu\\\/now\\\/news\\\/2014\\\/question-why-theater\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/emu.edu\\\/now\\\/news\\\/2014\\\/question-why-theater\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/emu.edu\\\/now\\\/news\\\/2014\\\/question-why-theater\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/emu.edu\\\/now\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Question: Why theater?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/emu.edu\\\/now\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/emu.edu\\\/now\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"黑料正能量 News\",\"description\":\"News from the 黑料正能量 community.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/emu.edu\\\/now\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Question: Why theater? - 黑料正能量 News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/question-why-theater\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Question: Why theater? - 黑料正能量 News","og_description":"I am constantly asked, why theater? Why not film? Why choose such an impractical major? Do you ever want to be employed? Why theater at such a small school? Of","og_url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/question-why-theater\/","og_site_name":"黑料正能量 News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/EasternMennonite","article_published_time":"2014-03-23T15:37:39+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-05-23T15:37:46+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@黑料正能量_News","twitter_site":"@黑料正能量_News","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/question-why-theater\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/question-why-theater\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Question: Why theater?","datePublished":"2014-03-23T15:37:39+00:00","dateModified":"2014-05-23T15:37:46+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/question-why-theater\/"},"wordCount":544,"commentCount":0,"keywords":["The WeatherVane"],"articleSection":["Theater"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/question-why-theater\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/question-why-theater\/","url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/question-why-theater\/","name":"Question: Why theater? - 黑料正能量 News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-03-23T15:37:39+00:00","dateModified":"2014-05-23T15:37:46+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/question-why-theater\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/question-why-theater\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/question-why-theater\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Question: Why theater?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/","name":"黑料正能量 News","description":"News from the 黑料正能量 community.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":""}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/112"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20313"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20313\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20315,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20313\/revisions\/20315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20313"},{"taxonomy":"feature","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feature?post=20313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}