Kimberly Von Randow ’28
Staff Writer
Live theater is not dying, but it is getting weaker and weaker by the year. Like an old friend who insists they’re “fine” while clearly limping, the theater is still here; still breathing, still beautiful, but struggling to keep up in a world of mass produced, and sometimes poorly made, movies that can be watched at home through a Prime Video rental. There are many factors that may be contributing to the loss of interest in live theater; lack of accessibility, rising costs, reduced number of shows.
For this article, I’m going to focus on the inconvenience of the theater, and why that’s a good thing. So don’t bother leaving a string of hate comments calling me insensitive to people who can’t afford going to see a play or something like that, I would include this point if I could but the word limit is sacred to me.
I don’t think I fully appreciated live theater until I took Acting I with Professor O’Konis. I encourage everybody on campus to take this class. Not only will you gain a deeper love for the performing arts, but you will also completely lose the capacity to feel embarrassment! One cannot have any shame left after lip-syncing your favorite song to a group of strangers on the first day of class. We had to watch plays performed on campus as part of our curriculum, and I remember thinking it was such a hassle to have to carve out a 3-hour long chunk of my day to watch these plays, make my way to the Prior Performing Arts Center, and give it my full and undivided attention. I ended up loving every minute of it.
In fact, one of the best things about going to the theater is that it’s inconvenient. You have to pick a date, buy a ticket, look presentable, travel to the venue, and sit still for a few hours. It’s one of the last spaces in modern life where you can’t multitask without being ripped away from the immersion of the story that is being told. By the end of the show, you feel a great connection with the characters, partly due to great storytelling and partly because seeing the actors perform right in front of you makes it feel that much more real. The inconvenience of it all forces you to slow down, make time, and commit to being fully present, and the experience feels far richer than anything you can queue up on your laptop.
I would argue that partaking in live theater is an equally valuable experience. Being on stage, even in the smallest role, forces you to confront the terrifying joy of being completely exposed. No edits, no retakes, just praying to God backstage that you rehearsed enough to not mess up your lines in front of the audience. Being in a play also requires you to be inconvenienced, spending multiple hours per week (or per day) studying your character, getting to know them, what they say and how they say it. That vulnerability is what makes performing as exciting as watching. You’re not just telling a story, you’re living it in real time, right alongside the audience.
Do your dying attention span a favor this semester. Allow yourself to be inconvenienced by art; buy a ticket, silence your phone, and surrender a couple hours of your life to a story you can’t skip or pause. Let yourself be trapped in the dark with strangers, watching actors provide evidence of the fruits of their labor in person. And while you’re at it, audition for a part in the next campus play! Perform in Midnight Theater! The world is your oyster, now go break a leg!
Featured image courtesy of Psychology Today
Copy Edited by Gail Durkin ’26
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