Sky Gilbert. Photo : Sean Howard
Happy World Theatre Day! Created in 1961 by UNESCO, World Theatre Day is celebrated annually on March 27 by theatre communities around the globe. This yearly event celebrate the power of theatre as an indispensable bridge-builder for mutual international understanding and peace as well as to promote and protect cultural diversity and identity in communities throughout the world.
The 2016 Canadian World Theatre Day message is written by Sky Gilbert (novelist, poet, filmmaker, director, actor, and drag queen extraordinaire…). Sky Gilbert is one of Canada’s most controversial artistic forces. He was the co-founder and Artistic Director of Buddies in Bad Times Theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, for 18 years.
(Source : PACT)
You’re sitting at home, in your favourite chair – with your favourite animal in your lap (cat? dog? lizard?). You’re surfing the web. You like it because your favourite movies and games and TV shows are at your fingertips. But you also like it because it tells you who you are. You discover all sorts of things about yourself when you’re online. If you buy something online you get a cheery message saying “I know what you like…why don’t you try this too?”
But wait. What if you were to leave the house?
After all, you could go to a Starbucks. But wouldn’t that be an awful lot like sitting in a room full of people who are acting as if they were home alone? What about a movie? Yeah sure, a movie. There will be strangers. But it will be dark.
You feel at home at the movies, because movies also tell you who you are. If you’re old — they’ll show you trailers for movies starring Maggie Smith. If you’re young— they’ll show you trailers for movies featuring pretty, blonde, blue-eyed girls singing about frozen worlds.
But what if you went to see a live play?
Well….
Why not?
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