Open Forum

Just to stir up some trouble:

I know the difference - theatre is what is created inside the building called a theater. My American sensibilities find the use of theatre to be pretentious, as if spelling it the English way makes it fancier or more refined.  I have resisted using "theatre" and tell my kids (only half in jest) that we don't do fancy "theatre" we do real "theater" (and yeah, maybe I'm the one being pretentious). 

Does anyone else share my pain, or am I fighting a losing battle here?

------------------------------
Ken Buswell
Drama Teacher
Peachtree City, GA
http://mcintoshtheater.org/

Theater kills ignorance
------------------------------

It says "Theatre" on my diploma, so that's what I go by ;-) I just tell my students that it's "re" for the art and "er" for the building.

------------------------------
Christopher Hamilton
Drama Teacher
Kennewick WA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 11-28-2018 11:53
From: Kenneth Buswell
Subject: Theater vs. Theatre

Just to stir up some trouble:

I know the difference - theatre is what is created inside the building called a theater. My American sensibilities find the use of theatre to be pretentious, as if spelling it the English way makes it fancier or more refined.  I have resisted using "theatre" and tell my kids (only half in jest) that we don't do fancy "theatre" we do real "theater" (and yeah, maybe I'm the one being pretentious).

Does anyone else share my pain, or am I fighting a losing battle here?

------------------------------
Ken Buswell
Drama Teacher
Peachtree City, GA
http://mcintoshtheater.org/

Theater kills ignorance
------------------------------

Coming from a place where the arts don't get a lot of respect, I have purposefully used "re" instead of "er".  Something about "theatre" seems to lend a bit more prestige.  While I couldn't say for sure, I think its had the effect I want, which is for students and community to view our program with more respect.

However, I do agree that there is some perceived pretentiousness that comes from the use of "theatre".  So strange that the arrangement of two letters can make such a difference!

------------------------------
Derek Friederich
Thespian Troupe 417/Speech Coach/Jr. High Drama/Fine Arts Center Technical Director
Postville IA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 11-28-2018 11:53
From: Kenneth Buswell
Subject: Theater vs. Theatre

Just to stir up some trouble:

I know the difference - theatre is what is created inside the building called a theater. My American sensibilities find the use of theatre to be pretentious, as if spelling it the English way makes it fancier or more refined.  I have resisted using "theatre" and tell my kids (only half in jest) that we don't do fancy "theatre" we do real "theater" (and yeah, maybe I'm the one being pretentious).

Does anyone else share my pain, or am I fighting a losing battle here?

------------------------------
Ken Buswell
Drama Teacher
Peachtree City, GA
http://mcintoshtheater.org/

Theater kills ignorance
------------------------------

We are not the only ones with this sort of struggle ...  as a few colleagues constantly remind other teachers and students:

Gym= the building

Wellness or Physical Education = the subject.

Same concept!


------------------------------
Kristin Hall
Drama Director
Lincoln Public Schools
Arlington MA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 11-28-2018 18:02
From: Derek Friederich
Subject: Theater vs. Theatre

Coming from a place where the arts don't get a lot of respect, I have purposefully used "re" instead of "er".  Something about "theatre" seems to lend a bit more prestige.  While I couldn't say for sure, I think its had the effect I want, which is for students and community to view our program with more respect.

However, I do agree that there is some perceived pretentiousness that comes from the use of "theatre".  So strange that the arrangement of two letters can make such a difference!

------------------------------
Derek Friederich
Thespian Troupe 417/Speech Coach/Jr. High Drama/Fine Arts Center Technical Director
Postville IA

Original Message:
Sent: 11-28-2018 11:53
From: Kenneth Buswell
Subject: Theater vs. Theatre

Just to stir up some trouble:

I know the difference - theatre is what is created inside the building called a theater. My American sensibilities find the use of theatre to be pretentious, as if spelling it the English way makes it fancier or more refined.  I have resisted using "theatre" and tell my kids (only half in jest) that we don't do fancy "theatre" we do real "theater" (and yeah, maybe I'm the one being pretentious).

Does anyone else share my pain, or am I fighting a losing battle here?

------------------------------
Ken Buswell
Drama Teacher
Peachtree City, GA
http://mcintoshtheater.org/

Theater kills ignorance
------------------------------

Being an Aussie I may be a little biased, but it is always THEATRE! (evil grin).

A theater is the place you go to see a movie:
A theatre is were you go to watch live theatre.
Theatre is what we do on stage in a theatre.

Where's the confusion!

Sorry couldn't resist!

------------------------------
Rod Reilly
Owner, Bodymics
908-899-1277
Somerset NJ
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 11-28-2018 11:53
From: Kenneth Buswell
Subject: Theater vs. Theatre

Just to stir up some trouble:

I know the difference - theatre is what is created inside the building called a theater. My American sensibilities find the use of theatre to be pretentious, as if spelling it the English way makes it fancier or more refined.  I have resisted using "theatre" and tell my kids (only half in jest) that we don't do fancy "theatre" we do real "theater" (and yeah, maybe I'm the one being pretentious).

Does anyone else share my pain, or am I fighting a losing battle here?

------------------------------
Ken Buswell
Drama Teacher
Peachtree City, GA
http://mcintoshtheater.org/

Theater kills ignorance
------------------------------

I pondered this issue a half-dozen years ago, and even offered a compromise solution.
http://www.hesherman.com/2012/03/15/the-most-useless-argument-in-theatrical-history/

------------------------------
Howard Sherman
Arts Integrity Initiative
New York NY
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 11-29-2018 07:55
From: Rod Reilly
Subject: Theater vs. Theatre

Being an Aussie I may be a little biased, but it is always THEATRE! (evil grin).

A theater is the place you go to see a movie:
A theatre is were you go to watch live theatre.
Theatre is what we do on stage in a theatre.

Where's the confusion!

Sorry couldn't resist!

------------------------------
Rod Reilly
Owner, Bodymics
908-899-1277
Somerset NJ

Original Message:
Sent: 11-28-2018 11:53
From: Kenneth Buswell
Subject: Theater vs. Theatre

Just to stir up some trouble:

I know the difference - theatre is what is created inside the building called a theater. My American sensibilities find the use of theatre to be pretentious, as if spelling it the English way makes it fancier or more refined.  I have resisted using "theatre" and tell my kids (only half in jest) that we don't do fancy "theatre" we do real "theater" (and yeah, maybe I'm the one being pretentious).

Does anyone else share my pain, or am I fighting a losing battle here?

------------------------------
Ken Buswell
Drama Teacher
Peachtree City, GA
http://mcintoshtheater.org/

Theater kills ignorance
------------------------------

Howard Sherman -- great essay! (Though I am partial to "teatro" myself, pronounced as buoyantly Italian as possible.)




------------------------------
Anita Martin
Managing Editor of Publications
Educational Theatre Association
Cincinnati, OH
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 11-29-2018 08:55
From: Howard Sherman
Subject: Theater vs. Theatre

I pondered this issue a half-dozen years ago, and even offered a compromise solution.
http://www.hesherman.com/2012/03/15/the-most-useless-argument-in-theatrical-history/

------------------------------
Howard Sherman
Arts Integrity Initiative
New York NY

Original Message:
Sent: 11-29-2018 07:55
From: Rod Reilly
Subject: Theater vs. Theatre

Being an Aussie I may be a little biased, but it is always THEATRE! (evil grin).

A theater is the place you go to see a movie:
A theatre is were you go to watch live theatre.
Theatre is what we do on stage in a theatre.

Where's the confusion!

Sorry couldn't resist!

------------------------------
Rod Reilly
Owner, Bodymics
908-899-1277
Somerset NJ

Original Message:
Sent: 11-28-2018 11:53
From: Kenneth Buswell
Subject: Theater vs. Theatre

Just to stir up some trouble:

I know the difference - theatre is what is created inside the building called a theater. My American sensibilities find the use of theatre to be pretentious, as if spelling it the English way makes it fancier or more refined.  I have resisted using "theatre" and tell my kids (only half in jest) that we don't do fancy "theatre" we do real "theater" (and yeah, maybe I'm the one being pretentious).

Does anyone else share my pain, or am I fighting a losing battle here?

------------------------------
Ken Buswell
Drama Teacher
Peachtree City, GA
http://mcintoshtheater.org/

Theater kills ignorance
------------------------------

Most of the "-re" words that British English borrowed from French have been Americanized as "-er" words: "centre"/"center," "metre"/"meter," "litre"/"liter," etc.  For simple consistency's sake, it seems that "theatre" should follow suit as "theater."  On the other hand, we don't say that Shrek is an "oger" ...

Still, in America we write "jail" rather than "gaol," and "pajamas" instead of "pyjamas," so the retention of "theatre" can indeed seem a little pretentious - rather like a stereotypically lock-jawed high-society grande dame whose pronunciation hews toward the British because she thinks it makes her sound classy.

The Associated Press Stylebook, pretty much the Bible of usage for journalists, has an entry specifying the use of the spelling "theater."

Here in Florida, however, the state's course code directory for public schools lists my courses as Theatre 1, Theatre 2, etc., so in school I generally adopt that spelling in order to avoid confusion among my students.  Even so, they often ask me if the word is spelled "-re" or "-er."  I usually tell them that it doesn't matter, but that it will probably help if any given piece of writing uses one spelling of the word consistently, instead of alternating between the two.

Hey, the Brits still drive on the wrong side of the road, and let's not even get into their spelling and pronunciation of the thirteenth element on the periodic table!  ;-)

------------------------------
Jeff Grove
Theatre Teacher, Aesthetics Department Chair
Stanton College Preparatory School
Jacksonville FL
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 11-28-2018 11:53
From: Kenneth Buswell
Subject: Theater vs. Theatre

Just to stir up some trouble:

I know the difference - theatre is what is created inside the building called a theater. My American sensibilities find the use of theatre to be pretentious, as if spelling it the English way makes it fancier or more refined.  I have resisted using "theatre" and tell my kids (only half in jest) that we don't do fancy "theatre" we do real "theater" (and yeah, maybe I'm the one being pretentious).

Does anyone else share my pain, or am I fighting a losing battle here?

------------------------------
Ken Buswell
Drama Teacher
Peachtree City, GA
http://mcintoshtheater.org/

Theater kills ignorance
------------------------------

Original Message------

Just to stir up some trouble:

I know the difference - theatre is what is created inside the building called a theater. My American sensibilities find the use of theatre to be pretentious, as if spelling it the English way makes it fancier or more refined.  I have resisted using "theatre" and tell my kids (only half in jest) that we don't do fancy "theatre" we do real "theater" (and yeah, maybe I'm the one being pretentious). 

Does anyone else share my pain, or am I fighting a losing battle here?

------------------------------
Ken Buswell
Drama Teacher
Peachtree City, GA
http://mcintoshtheater.org/

Theater kills ignorance
------------------------------

I use the "re" in all circumstances, even for the building. (Of course, I went through that anglophile period as a teenager.) I find it's an easy way to find the real theatre people in a crowd. (or maybe, I'm just that pretentious.) :-)

Bob

------------------------------
Robert Smith
VA Co-Chapter Director
Retired
Centreville VA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 11-28-2018 11:53
From: Kenneth Buswell
Subject: Theater vs. Theatre

Just to stir up some trouble:

I know the difference - theatre is what is created inside the building called a theater. My American sensibilities find the use of theatre to be pretentious, as if spelling it the English way makes it fancier or more refined.  I have resisted using "theatre" and tell my kids (only half in jest) that we don't do fancy "theatre" we do real "theater" (and yeah, maybe I'm the one being pretentious).

Does anyone else share my pain, or am I fighting a losing battle here?

------------------------------
Ken Buswell
Drama Teacher
Peachtree City, GA
http://mcintoshtheater.org/

Theater kills ignorance
------------------------------

Original Message------

Just to stir up some trouble:

I know the difference - theatre is what is created inside the building called a theater. My American sensibilities find the use of theatre to be pretentious, as if spelling it the English way makes it fancier or more refined.  I have resisted using "theatre" and tell my kids (only half in jest) that we don't do fancy "theatre" we do real "theater" (and yeah, maybe I'm the one being pretentious). 

Does anyone else share my pain, or am I fighting a losing battle here?

------------------------------
Ken Buswell
Drama Teacher
Peachtree City, GA
http://mcintoshtheater.org/

Theater kills ignorance
------------------------------

What a fun and interesting discussion! At EdTA, theater is a building and always a building. Theatre is the art produced in that building as a play.

------------------------------
David LaFleche
Director of Membership
Educational Theatre Association
Cincinnati OH
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 11-29-2018 16:59
From: Wayne Kischer
Subject: Theater vs. Theatre

For me, theatre denotes live performances on a stage - theater is what most people think where movies are shown.

Wayne Kischer

Original Message------

Just to stir up some trouble:

I know the difference - theatre is what is created inside the building called a theater. My American sensibilities find the use of theatre to be pretentious, as if spelling it the English way makes it fancier or more refined.  I have resisted using "theatre" and tell my kids (only half in jest) that we don't do fancy "theatre" we do real "theater" (and yeah, maybe I'm the one being pretentious).

Does anyone else share my pain, or am I fighting a losing battle here?

------------------------------
Ken Buswell
Drama Teacher
Peachtree City, GA
http://mcintoshtheater.org/

Theater kills ignorance
------------------------------

Original Message------

For me, theatre denotes live performances on a stage - theater is what most people think where movies are shown.

Wayne Kischer

Oh, dear, yes, you will stir up trouble with this one. Beauty is in the eye of . . . etc. Anyway, the OED agrees that "theatre" is the British spelling and that "theater" is the American preference, although "theatre" is also acceptable in American English. Here's part of a quote from Grammarphobia https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2012/02/theater-theatre.html :

There's been a lot of nonsense written about "theater" and "theatre"-that one is for movies and the other is for plays; or that one refers to a building and the other to an art form; or that one spelling is lowbrow while the other is refined.

But these are merely variant spellings of the same noun.

The full quote is attached.

So, take your pick if you are writing for American readers.  The Revolutionary War goes on in our language. As an American, I use "theater" except for the spelling of names of theaters that have "theatre" in their names. But, as a playwright, I automatically default to British spelling when writing plays with an English setting. "Color" becomes "colour," etc.  The real problem that I have as a writer is to figure out who my audience is!

------------------------------
Jean Klein
[Playwright/Founder HaveScripts/BlueMoonPlays]
Virginia Beach VA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 11-28-2018 11:53
From: Kenneth Buswell
Subject: Theater vs. Theatre

Just to stir up some trouble:

I know the difference - theatre is what is created inside the building called a theater. My American sensibilities find the use of theatre to be pretentious, as if spelling it the English way makes it fancier or more refined.  I have resisted using "theatre" and tell my kids (only half in jest) that we don't do fancy "theatre" we do real "theater" (and yeah, maybe I'm the one being pretentious).

Does anyone else share my pain, or am I fighting a losing battle here?

------------------------------
Ken Buswell
Drama Teacher
Peachtree City, GA
http://mcintoshtheater.org/

Theater kills ignorance
------------------------------

I appreciate all the well-reasoned and intelligent responses. In my defense, I have just one word: Merica!


------------------------------
Ken Buswell
Drama Teacher
Peachtree City, GA
http://mcintoshtheater.org/

Theater kills ignorance
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 11-30-2018 11:59
From: Jean Klein
Subject: Theater vs. Theatre

Oh, dear, yes, you will stir up trouble with this one. Beauty is in the eye of . . . etc. Anyway, the OED agrees that "theatre" is the British spelling and that "theater" is the American preference, although "theatre" is also acceptable in American English. Here's part of a quote from Grammarphobia https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2012/02/theater-theatre.html :

There's been a lot of nonsense written about "theater" and "theatre"-that one is for movies and the other is for plays; or that one refers to a building and the other to an art form; or that one spelling is lowbrow while the other is refined.

But these are merely variant spellings of the same noun.

The full quote is attached.

So, take your pick if you are writing for American readers.  The Revolutionary War goes on in our language. As an American, I use "theater" except for the spelling of names of theaters that have "theatre" in their names. But, as a playwright, I automatically default to British spelling when writing plays with an English setting. "Color" becomes "colour," etc.  The real problem that I have as a writer is to figure out who my audience is!

------------------------------
Jean Klein
[Playwright/Founder HaveScripts/BlueMoonPlays]
Virginia Beach VA

Original Message:
Sent: 11-28-2018 11:53
From: Kenneth Buswell
Subject: Theater vs. Theatre

Just to stir up some trouble:

I know the difference - theatre is what is created inside the building called a theater. My American sensibilities find the use of theatre to be pretentious, as if spelling it the English way makes it fancier or more refined.  I have resisted using "theatre" and tell my kids (only half in jest) that we don't do fancy "theatre" we do real "theater" (and yeah, maybe I'm the one being pretentious).

Does anyone else share my pain, or am I fighting a losing battle here?

------------------------------
Ken Buswell
Drama Teacher
Peachtree City, GA
http://mcintoshtheater.org/

Theater kills ignorance
------------------------------