Every year my family and I go to San Francisco the weekend before Christmas and we go watch the live play, “A Christmas Carol” performed by the cast at the American Conservatory Theater right down the street from Union Square. My family and I have been doing this tradition for six years now and it has always been performed a little differently, which keeps me entertained.
At a movie theater, if you see a movie once, it will never change. The characters will stay the same, as will the plot and the conclusion. The same concept applies for sequels to movies; no matter how many times you watch the sequel, it will always stay the same.
Live theater also has some negative sides to it. If anything goes wrong at all, it will ruin the whole play. Improvisation doesn’t always work, so it can result in the play looking sloppy and unprepared.–Devin Pitts, ’18
The atmosphere is much different at a live theater performance. Something about it makes you feel like you are a part of the performance, it’s as if you are experiencing what the characters are going through.
There are retries in the production of movies. They can cut and redo scenes, something that you can’t do in a live performance. In movies you do not even need to know your lines, there are people holding signs up that you can read your lines off of. There is no perfection within live performances, but a dedication not found in cinemas.
Live theater also has some negative sides to it. If anything goes wrong at all, it will ruin the whole play. Improvisation doesn’t always work, so it can result in the play looking sloppy and unprepared.
This also can happen with a lot of today’s movies. Sometimes bad acting and weak story lines can ruin a whole movie from the start. Many movies are not captivating and end up leaving the consumer bored and uninterested.
Overall, I personally believe that live theater is superior to going to the movies. Live theater is typically more educational and entertaining. It keeps your mind sharp and focused because it urges you to constantly think.
This writer can be reached via Twitter: @devin_pitts1735.
For more opinions, read the Jan. 13 article, New staffers reflect on fall semester.
