When was the last live performance you saw?
Not too long ago, my family and I saw a live radio play version of R.U.R.: Rossum’s Universal Robots at a local amateur theater. I am not an avid theater-goer, but seeing this performance gave me a new appreciation of the art, especially its homegrown incarnation.
Amateur performances are charming, and I mean that in the best way possible. I don’t use the word in the condescending sense of “look at this three-year-old’s watercolors splashed across the paper and table and floor, oh, bless his little heart, doesn’t he try so hard!” I mean charming as in witnessing the genuine passion and effort that non-professional actors put into their art. They do it because they love it and want to be part of the show.
I believe that all art has value. Amateur or professional, it’s all worthwhile if you enjoy it. Was the acting a little sketchy in places? Of course. Were the sound effects questionable? Sometimes. And did it have that coziness that is a distinctly different flavor of fun from the bombastic, big-budget hustle and bustle of professional theater and radio plays? Oh, yes. I went in not expecting very much, and came out thinking that maybe I should go to the theater more often.
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It hasn’t gone anywhere, and it won’t anytime soon! My first book, A God Walks Up to the Bar, is available on Amazon.com. Witness the modern day adventures of the Greek god Hermes in a world much like our own – plus with demigods, vampires, nymphs, ogres, and magic. The myths of old never went away, they just moved on with the times. It’s a tough job, being a god!
Jake W. Powell 