Theatre

     Art, in its simplest definition, is a work of human creativity.  Theatre is a dramatic art, and, when executed with the means and ends as art, is a medium for the reflection of an audience.  Art is not regurgitation.  Theatre, in its creative premise, is not an encapsulation of life, but, rather is an explosion of thought, culture, and dialogue that defies or exaggerates convention.  Through repetition, it becomes ritual, in many cases supplanting older customs and norms.  Theatre is an apparent dialogue, a conversation of, amongst, about, and for culture and climate:  both ordinary and extraordinary, including the innocent and the obscene.

     It may seem a myopia to digest theatre from a personal perspective alone; however, that, as the audience, is the base experience of ego.  When viewing a theatrical production, it, at times, seems effortless to be shocked and/or amused in a response of personal pathos, yet to truly frame the art is exponential.  From the perspective of the individual to the perspective of the collective, interpretation of the art form of theatre is endless.

     Sometimes the parameters of theatre are not so simple as a stage or a screen.  For example, I enjoy thespian activities in a less staged atmosphere.  I recently dined at Amerigo in downtown Nashville and did some unsolicited improvisational comedy with my companions.  The humorous, satirical conversation ensued as we took on the personas of Belle Meade millionaires, ranging from our gossip about the Hellmann mayonnaise, Dasani, and Aquafina dynasties’ fortunes, where the dynasties are schooling their children, how the Aquafina family recently decorated their summer home with a shabby chic white color palette, to MBA and Harpeth Hall cotillions, new money, and wintering at Key Biscayne.  Such spontaneous spectacles may not easily be dismissed as art:  many people with less scruples than my companions and I at Amerigo make such art a mode of deceit.  That glamorous millionaire may be a thespian, or, worse yet, a confidence artist.  Theater is an art that happens every day in many unexpected and staged ways.