Theatre Education

I have been thinking about the education that I received in theatre, and the reality of the theatre would that I work in New York. This will sound cynical, but I feel this is true; Theatre in New York City is about capitalism, and that is what makes it an American art form. There is no shame in that, and to be honest I don’t even see that there is anything wrong with identifying it as such. In America, if you don’t make money off of it, then it is not successful.

What I feel is that a huge disservice is being committed comes to theatre education, especially at the university level, as very few schools teach this lesson. What my school, and what most others teach is that theatre is an art form, and through the example of a liberal education, only exploration and synthesis of the art form is emphasized.

Now I know that most educators don’t want to go down this road of a capitalistic approach, as that would mean that theatre education would become nothing more than a trade school with costumes. But, I fear that it is too late for that. Every school I know touts the people who have made it to Broadway, or television or the movies, as the success stories to their program. I fell that the theatre education world is wanting to have it both ways; we are art that can create personal financial wealth for you.