Nearly this time last year, I used this column to ponder the fact that plays can have universal themes throughout history, and thus maintain the true definition of the term “classic.” This year, classes begin next week, and I approach the year with a new academic puzzle to ponder: the pitfalls and epiphanies inherent in explaining to present-day college students that theatre was linked to religious ritual for the vast majority of its lifetime.
For the purposes of this column, I’d like to take a moment to define the term “ritual.” Certainly the theatre has certain patterns that are performed in something of a repetitive manner upon each visit. For example, we understand that when the lights go out, it is time to pay respect to the action on stage. Some people prefer to dress up for theatre; in my experience this has actually prevented people from attending, as they don’t feel they “have clothes for that kind of thing.”
No, for this column, I’m suggesting that ritual actions performed by audience and artist alike that not only happen often, but have significance; a significance that transcends physical state, that is communal and irreversible. Actions that are performed for the betterment of the soul.
From Ancient Greece through the Middle Ages, the western world intertwined religion and theatre. In Ancient Greece, wars would stop in honor of theatre festivals. Beyond the desire to avoid the ire of the gods, citizens required to attend festivals would do so willingly and gladly. Theatre cleansed the soul of the average Greek citizen, given the thorough catharsis presented in the tragedies, and the matchless levity in the comedies. Throughout the festivals, the gods were always given their reverence. It was understood that the reverence in these festivals would allow citizens to reap the blessings of the resultant bountiful harvests, and prosperous business dealings.
But, how do I recreate this scenario for students who live in a world where religious ritual is optional? In the healthy breadth of diversity available to students today - which I fully endorse - how can I make students connect to something that couldn’t be further from their current experience?
This discussion came up between myself and another academic, who suggested that virtually all art is a direct response to religion. She felt that at times throughout our history, religion has posed a restrictive element to people’s lives, a tension then relieved by artistic expression. This could explain the number of times any art form has been associated with evil or evildoing.
But, that didn’t explain to me how ritual could have been lost along the centuries. For the better part of the twentieth century, many theatre artists chose to attempt to explain the human condition, warts and all. For such a complex topic, perhaps there was no time to offer a prayer to a god who no one remembered anymore anyway.
However, perhaps that isn’t necessary. Regardless of the Greeks’ need to appease their gods with works of art, today they are used to help us analyze social ills. They served that purpose for the Greeks, too. But, perhaps today the ritualism is done in a different way.
I recently read an article summarizing the reports of a psychological study done in London, meant to study biorhythms of audience members. The results were astonishing. Evidently, when an audience views a play, the bodily rhythms of individual members often will involuntarily sync: heartbeats, breathing, you name it. Despite having little relationship with each other, reports showed that subjects remained synced even through intermissions, and after the plays had finished. During the event, the audience experience the same events as one entity, ignoring any sense of individual biological makeup.
So, perhaps there is something about theatre that is ritualistic simply by experiencing it. Maybe there needs to be no reverence to any gods to feel a communal sense of the same experience. Just attendance seems to be transcendent enough.
I’ll see you at intermission!
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