BWW Blog: Cheyenne Dalton - Theatre Makes Us Human

As someone who came from a family of electrical linemen and bankers and contract specialists, started out pre-vet in middle school, detoured to pre-med in high school, and finally to theatre - not only did my career choice fail to reach the goals previously set for me by my peers, my teachers, and my parents, but I was left with a huge question: does what I do make a valuable contribution to this world and society?

Theatre models for us real life. When we watch a play, we learn what happens when conflicts arise, and the choices, wrong or right, that are made. We develop our critical thinking skills. In South Africa theatre played a role in the struggle against apartheid and in Czechoslovakia, a playwright became the leader of a new democracy. Both in the making of theatre and in the watching theatre, we can learn. Through historical plays, we learn about past leadership; through contemporary plays, we learn about real life, the good and the bad parts.

Theatre does no harm. The only thing part of theatre that could physically hurt someone is possibly its carbon footprint. Theatre is an expression of a basic human need to tell stories. We see this in children, in their acting out characters (real or imagined), and we see this in ancient peoples, in their rituals and history. Theatre makes us human.

Theatre brings people together. Regardless of the amount of people that see a show, they are in one place, all together, and experiencing the same beautiful show. After 9/11 happened, many theatres went dark in New York City. One, however, stayed open, and performed for a grand total of five people. Regardless of the hundreds of people who were supposed to attend this show, the five that did felt a sense of belonging and togetherness just after this tragic event.

Theatre influences the way we think and feel about our own lives and encourages us to look at ourselves. I was the sound engineer for a community college production of Les Miserables. After the courthouse scene, where Jean Val Jean bursts in and says that he is the criminal and not the man they have on the platform, a 40-something-year-old-man that played the falsified criminal was backstage in tears. After asking him what was wrong, he simply said, "I have learned the value of what God has done for all of us. To love another person really means to see the face of God." Isn't this one of the things we go to the theatre for, to measure our own lives against the lives we see depicted on the stage, to imagine what it would be like if we had those lives instead? And isn't it a very short step from there to saying, gee, maybe there's something I should change about my own life?

Theatre teaches many valuable lessons each and every time a show is performed, a scene is rehearsed, or a performer is cast. Theatre teaches us that no one is alone, and that anyone and everyone can be the biggest and brightest star. Theatre teaches us problem solving, collaboration, and the ability to work on a deadline. Theatre teaches us the value of a shared goal, and the true nature of ensemble creativity. Theatre teaches us to build self-esteem, to be tolerant, and to be fully present in the moment. Theatre teaches us to be a better person.