A week ago I went to the 'Wesley Institute for Ministry and the Arts' in Drummoyne to speak to students who, this year, have started studying a new subject - 'Drama Ministry' - as part of their creative arts degrees. Over the years I've participated in a bit of 'Drama Ministry', from being part of the group ZeroG, to performing at Blackstump, and directing the 2006 Celebration of Word and Song. So, I was keen to both share my experiences (and prejudices) as well as learn a bit from them.
As I began I tossed in a statement that I could count on one hand the number of people I knew (in Sydney/New South Wales) who made a living from drama ministry. This seemed to spark interest in the students. Who? And why so few? As we continued, I commented that theatrical performance is a dicey business, so many people are attracted to theatre, but so few can manage to eek out a living from it. For those interested in Drama Ministry, targeting your performances largely at a Christian audience means focussing on a very small proportion of the overall population in the country!
And, I added, Christians don't go to the theatre.
Why not?
Why not indeed? At the time I tossed out a few thoughts about why I thought Christians especially don't go to the theatre.
i) From the early church fathers (Tertullian & Augustine spring to mind) there has been a tradition of Christian critique directed at what it is that actors do, as well as a suspicion of that which is theatrical and performative. Christians distrust the suspension of disbelief inherent in theatrical acts. An explicit concern has been the form of theatre as an art: it involves ambiguity and fiction - actors appear to alter their identity in a conscious attempt to deceive.
ii) The church and the theatre often seem to be in competition - from a secular perspective (at least) both offer meaning, purpose and belonging - implicating the individual into a wider story.
iii) Unlike music, theatre and performance (arguably) isn't dealt with anywhere in the Bible.
iii) Perhaps Christians don't go to theatre because their focus is on more worthwhile pursuits: they choose to spend their time and money elsewhere (on the church, the poor, etc.). Theatre just isn't efficacious.
There's more to be said here ... this is just a quick jotting. What do you think? Are Christians uneasy ('ontologically queasy') about theatre and performance?
3 comments:
Perhaps its iii for me personally, too money poor and time poor but when ever I do get to go (maybe three times a year ish) I LOVE IT! certainly not a funny feeling about spending money on theatre or anything like that, just not much to spend...
If you want to give me a season subscription to the Belvoir I'll be there every time!!!
I'm in a funny middle-ground vortex though, time-poor for being an English teacher though a keenness to go because of being an English teacher, both of those reasons come, of course, amongst other reasons but depending on the day you could simplify it down to that...
I see high-school theatre because its normally free, does that count?
Not quessy at all! love it. But I am someone who is drawn to the cinematic experience maybe a little more than the theatrical experince. But I'm not sure that our bible study makes up a good focus group of mainstraem christians... I dunno maybe we do. I'm in the same boat as em in some ways I'll go if I can afford it and now the new factor -if we can get a babysitter...
Pre-baby we enjoyed our STC subscriptions exceedingly but now it just makes for too late a night. My brain (and body) conk out pretty early now. Sounds pathetic but there you go. As a Christian I have always found theatre a great stimulus for thinking about how our world works and what its values are. I love it.
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