Writing vs. Theatre

Katlynn Spakousky
Nov 4 · 2 min read

This blog is about writing. Mainly, I focus on literary writing, but in this post, I also want to touch on theatre.

These past 2 months, I have been involved in my university's first play of the year. This was a very fun opportunity for me, but it also took a lot of time. That’s why I haven’t published for the last couple weeks. I was spending about 24 hours a week at the theatre, on top of my already busy schedule that comes with taking 18 college credits. But in any case, back to theatre.

I was a technician, and helped put up all the lights and the more electrician part of it. For the actual musical, I was the light board operator. Really, that’s just a fancy way of saying I pressed a button when I was told to in the tech booth.

However, I will not take this time to tell you of the details of the lighting and lights themselves, for I don’t think that would be very interesting to read. I will instead tell you one of the major differences and similarities I found between writing and acting a story.

Writing is something that is usually done relatively solo. In the end, a writer creates a story that comes from inside their head, and simply writes it down. Sure, the author often involves others, but ultimately, writing a novel is a solo endeavor.

Theatre, however, is a very social activity. It involves dozens of people. There are the actors, the costume and make-up people, the backstage crew, the carpentry people, the set designers, the electricians, the costume designers, the directors, the ushers, and so much more. In the end, theatre is an art form that is run by many people coming together to show this story. It is an art form that requires trust and patience with each other, and something that changes with each run of the show.

The director of the show said that he thought that theatre was the most social of all the arts, and I agree with him. Consequently, I would consider writing one of the most solitary of art forms. This does not make one form of art better or worse then the other, I think this just allows us to appreciate both art forms all the more.

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