World Theatre Day

What is Theatre

Theatre is a teamwork type of performance art in which live performers; mainly actors and actresses, stage real or imaginary stories before a live audience. Such performances are normally conducted in specially defined areas, in most cases a stage performers use gestures, words, songs, music and dance to relay experiences to the audience. Theatre is amongst the earliest form of arts and in the modern world, even the recorded plays have become an aspect of the whole theatre. Such devices as stage lighting and painted backdrops help to make the performance more real, immediate and involving. Theatres refer to buildings or regular venues that are used in hosting these live performances.

The origin of the Theatre

The International Theatre Institute (ITI) a UNESCO affiliated organization, launched World Theatre Day in 1961. This was aimed at developing the theatre as a tool of international understanding and cultural exchangeOn March 27, 1962, it was essentially introduced for the first time during the inauguration of the Theatre of Nations Festival in Paris.  The event is now observed in more than 90 countries and has become a worldwide affair.

One of the most powerful and ancient forms of cultural expression is theatre. It has a heavy history that still affects the societies, generates essential discourse, narrates stories, and provokes change.

World Theatre Day 2025 will have the theme: Theatre and a Culture of Peace. ITI does not assign a specific theme each year, leaving space to be interpreted and explained in different ways.

Characteristics worthy of note about Theatre:

·        Theatre encourages appropriate social interaction, conversation, and might even become a tool for social change.

·        It is a place to find solutions, to listen to both sides of a story and a place to internally reflect.

·        The theatre enhances literacy and education. Research has shown that students who participate in theatre usually excel better than their counterparts in school.

·        The live theatre creates a community.

·        It helps people to remember that they are not isolated cases and unites individuals and groups to talk about their experiences.

·        In theatre there is a human relation between actors and the spectators.

·        It sparks intellects.

·        Theatre provides us with an alternative way of seeing the world because each play exposes us to multiple points of view and even contradicting ones.