I echo the "Both" comments. I will add a partial caveat - what is your intent in producing it? I usually pick plays for my students that will challenge them - and I am usually more focused on what my students will get from the play than what an audience will think (one of my students once said after a production "I finally figured it out, you really don't give a Sh#! about them" - "them" being the audience).
That said, there are years when my producing need is to fill our coffers so we can do our "arty" stuff or buy some much needed equipment. So then I try to find one that will be commercial AND challenge my actors.
Good theatre does both. John Patrick Shanley said "Theatre is a safe place to do the unsafe things that society needs to have done" which I find particularly inspiring. In my educational life I am bound by language & content restrictions, cast size (I like BIG casts with lots of opportunities for kids), technical restraints, some audience restraints (we do want folks to see it, otherwise why are we doing it?), and financial goals. 12 years ago I set up my own theatre company so that in the summer I can do small, balls to the wall, racy, opinionated, challenging work. Work that does those "unsafe" things. The balance is what keeps me sane. As an artist, I needed a place to do the things I could not do at school. I love both, even the "entertaining" plays where $$ are a larger part of the equation than usual, but theatre itself is so broad and all encompassing that if I had to do only one type of thing I would quit.
So an additional thread might be - how do you strike a balance? We wear many hats - educators, producers, directors, community members, artists - how do you find that balance? Do you focus on the educational content only? The entertainment content only? What then, about your own artistic vision?
Sorry, I rambled off topic, seems to plug into even broader questions for me.
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Jeffrey Davis
Plainsboro NJ
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Original Message:
Sent: 08-23-2017 09:53
From: Russell Saxton
Subject: Should theatre entertain or educate?
THANK YOU! Your responses are brilliant. I found this quote from Walt Disney in my research. Interesting, obviously the man did something right. Please continue the discussion with your thoughts. Thanks, Russ
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Russell Saxton
Theatre Instructor
Dixie State University
St George UT
Original Message:
Sent: 08-23-2017 09:34
From: John Perry
Subject: Should theatre entertain or educate?
Neither. I believe theatre is an art form and should give the audience an artistic experience. If you want to teach, give a lecture. Want to send a message, call Western Union (remember them?). Good art changes the way you think and the way you perceive the world. Good art (theatre) elevates you above the mundane world and gives you a glimpse of higher attainment. I can name plays that made me see the world in a different way and to realize that I could be, was, different. Anne Bogart lists "entertainment" as one of the purposes of theatre but she uses the French "divertissement" which I take to mean it diverts you from your normal life.
AP
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John Perry
Drama Instructor
Atherton High School
Louisville KY
Original Message:
Sent: 08-23-2017 08:39
From: Nathan Rosen
Subject: Should theatre entertain or educate?
I love the question "Is theatre for entertainment or education," not because I choose one or the other, but because it helps students think about the effect that theatre has on audiences and participants.
Here is what Eric Bentley taught us about Bertolt Brecht. He said that Brecht came down squarely on the side of education, but that was because that was where his conscious focus was. He was constantly, in life and art, an entertaining person, and his writing and direction of plays was always very entertaining. So, even the most didactic of playwrights is full of both entertainment and education.
It's a false dichotomy. No one can educate if the class falls asleep from boredom. An entertainment with no educational content ("total fluff") rarely seems like a good use of time, and is forgotten almost at once.
The answer is "yes."
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Nathan Rosen
Baltimore MD
Original Message:
Sent: 08-23-2017 07:17
From: Scott Hasbrouck
Subject: Should theatre entertain or educate?
Thanks for the idea. I will now be using this as a prompt in my IB Theatre class as well. I also believe both. The best entertainment should educate. But if I have to choose one, entertainment first. People have to WANT to see our work before they can be educated by it. I have to get them in the door. If a theatre company has a reputation for being entertaining and has an established audience, then they are in an excellent position to begin to perform shows which make their audience think and question.
Scott Hasbrouck
George Washington HS
Denver, CO
Original Message------
Hello Theatre Educators,
Warm wishes for a successful, productive and low stress school year! I started teaching my college Theatre Methods class this past week. I'm planning a discussion next week on the topic, Should theatre entertain or educate? What are your thoughts, especially as this idea pertains to your theatre program, curriculum, butts in the seats for shows, budgets, and the list goes on and on? Thank you for your thoughts and responses.
Warm Regards,
Russ
Russ Saxton Dixie State University
225 South 700 East
Saint George, UT 84770
cell 435-632-9241