ACTING - it's not just about 'PLAYING'

Many people think acting is either really easy because all actors do is prance around a stage in silly costumes speaking with silly voices, OR, people think acting is really hard because you have to do and say things in front of other people.  There is so much more to Actors and the world of Acting.
Actors don't just 'play'.   "[Actors] remind people that things can change, wounds can heal, people can be forgiven, and closed hearts can be open again." - Larry Moss

Acting is about making people feel, think and question themselves, others and the world.
Acting is a means of expression.
Acting is an outlet for individuals to show others deep emotions and thoughts that are experienced.
Acting is a way to pretend to be someone else, live in someone else's shoes, have someone else's family, have someone else's dreams and go through someone else's experiences.
Acting is a vehicle to be used as a way of expressing ideas, concepts and physicality that would otherwise be "socially unacceptable".
Actors take nothing from an audience except for applause, tears and laughter.


It is hard work.  Rehearsing twice a week, every week for 3 months to put on only 5 or 8 shows.  It's a lot of lines to memorize.  It means a lot of research into people, places, societies and times in history in order to develop a character.  

There are people who do not understand why actors do what they do. Especially actors in community & alternative theatre as they do not get paid for their time or hard work.  To people who ask "why do you do it?" or "wouldn't you rather do something that pays?" I simply reply by asking them whether or not they have ever volunteered.  

Acting is volunteering and it is rewarding.  Though we do not usually get paid, though we sometimes must endure critics, notes from directors, ridicule from adjudicators and snickers from an audience, we as actors dedicate ourselves to the art of becoming someone else.  We live someone else's life, go through their trials and tribulations.  We survive the torment of thoughts in their mind, sometimes die as them or worse, experience a loss far greater than any death.  We do this so that YOU as an audience member can experience these, through us, from the safety of your seat.

This is the gift actors give to us all for the mere price of an applause.

"Theatre: Where we lose and find ourselves at the same time"

To an audience member: theatre might be an escape, a place and time where they can forget about their power-hungry boss or their bills which are months overdue.  Theatre could mean a night of cheap entertainment in comparison to a concert or movie.  Perhaps, to them, theatre means forgetting about the problems and issues they face in their own lives at home and taking a break from it all as they watch someone else push through and deal with more serious issues.  It might be the place where they can watch, care for and follow a character who has it worse off than themselves.

To an actor: theatre might be the place where they can become someone else and live someone else's life for 2 hours a night for 2 weeks.  Theatre might be a place where they can put on fancy clothes and wear pretty make-up without ridicule (unless it is is ridicule they are going for ;).  To actors, theatre means opportunities to please an audience and take full responsibility for a standing ovation or the roar of over 1,000 people clapping in appreciation for a job well-done.

Theatre affects many people in different ways.  Audience members, Directors, Producers, Actors, Light & Sound Operators, Stage Managers, Stagehands, Set Designers & Builders, Costume & Prop Coordinators the list goes on!

What does "THEATRE" mean to you?