Theatre is the act of performing a story to an audience. Its roots date back to earlier than the sixth century BCE. Based off of cave drawings from the Egyptians and other earlier civilizations, historians can assume that theatre has been an integral part of human culture. However, the earliest record of theatre dates to the Ancient Greeks. The Greeks contributed many important elements that are used in theatre today. Comedy and tragedy were introduced to theater during the Golden Age. With the rise of plays, like rap-musical “Hamilton”, theatre is once again rising into the spotlight. The increase in popularity has appealed to some of the great actors. Many actors, such as Bryan Cranston, Neil Patrick Harris, and Lin-Manuel Miranda are transitioning from film to theatre and vice versa. However, no matter how popular theatre is in current media, it will continue to take over New York City and all theatergoers’ hearts regardless.
Unlike theatre, sports have been popular in current media for a long time. An explanation of what it is and what it means for popular culture is unnecessary. However, there is more to sports than just sweaty guys throwing and hitting balls on television. Its earliest recorded event in the 760 BCE Olympic games dates slightly earlier than Ancient Grecian theatre. However, it was not until the 19th and 20th century that sports it’s current form started to develop. The most popular sport in the world, soccer, started in China during the second and third century BCE and has now spread throughout the world. But the sport that makes the most money, American football, was not invented until 1869.
Although their roots predate around the same time, theatre and sports have always been like oil and water. Despite their contrast, I grew up surrounded by both. My father and brothers have always had a passion for sports, particularly baseball. Growing up, I would often spend my evenings at the baseball field (though I spent most of the game with my head in the book, which is where my passion for reading blossomed.) When I wasn’t at my brothers’ games, I could find my family watching one of the professional teams on TV. I fought my interest in sports for a long time, but around the time I started college, I found myself spending several nights watching my favorite basketball team and sometimes even a baseball game.
While sports were forced on me, I chose my passion for theatre. After the first three years of my life were filled with me dancing and singing on top of tabletops, my mom felt like she needed to sign me up for dance lessons. Since then, my love has only grown. After applying for the Orange County School of the Arts when I was twelve, I began to believe that theatre would be an important part of my future.
However, through my years at an arts school, I realized that many theatre students didn’t know much about organized sports. In fact, the closet thing my high school had to a sports team was the bi-annual dodgeball torments. So I decided to try to explain sports in way theatre enthusiasts could understand.
SOCCER:
This ancient sport is one of the most popular.
The “goal” of soccer is to try to kick the soccer ball into the other teams net. This is similar to when actors are performing scenes. The two actors tend to have two conflicting needs in the scene and they must use different tactics to try to achieve it. In a scene there are times when an actor can be “winning” because his or her tactics are more effective, but at the end of the scene there tends to be someone who wins.
This is similar to scoring goals and winning at the end of regulation. Of course there are other things like goalies, corner kicks, and penalties but the main point is, whenever the ball goes in the net, the team that scored is adding a point to the final tally and those with the most points win.
BASKETBALL:
Basketball is one of the most fast paced sports. It is like soccer but if the scene being performed was a Shakespeare comedy and the tactics and pace of the lines were being shot out as quickly as possible.
BASEBALL:
It is difficult to compare baseball to acting terms. If basketball is like comedy on steroids, baseball is like a long Broadway opera that never ends. A game can last up to several hours long. The longest baseball game record lasted 33 innings, 8 hours and 25 minutes. The point is different from soccer and basketball. The goal for the player is to hit the tiny baseball when a player from the other team throws it at them, and when they do, they can move to run the bases. They need to run four bases before getting a point or a “run.”
In current sports news, the baseball team from Chicago won the World Series, which is like the Tony’s for the sports' world, for the first time in over 100 years.
The truth is, sports watchers and theatre goers do not tend to intermix but they often have many similarities. There are stars in both fields that are impactful and can make or break a “performance.” To be a successful actor or player, you need to be well trained and prepared. There needs to be a game plan before the show/game begins so they can perform instinctually.
They both have the capacity to unite a community and give them something to root for. When the team from Chicago won for the first time in over a century, despite the divide in our country today, many people came together, no matter where they lived or what they believed in, and celebrated. It was similar to when the Broadway smash hit, Hamilton, came out. People, whether they were regular theatergoers or first time listeners heard the music of the show and felt united. Sports and theatre don’t intersect often, but just because you like one,doesn’t mean you can’t like the other.
