Philosophy and Theatre

Professor Wilson, this one's for you.
This semester I have been blessed to be in my Theatre Appreciation course. Who knew what I would learn in there would be life changing for me. I have had an awesome professor, and am so privileged and honored to sit under her teaching. I don't say that about a lot of teachers. I must say though, at Central Piedmont I have had some wonderful teachers and a good experience so far. This semester has been among the top best as I have loved all my classes and professors.
I have finally set some goals for myself thanks to some instructors/professors sitting down with me and helping me plan out stuff. I have come to decide that I'll be pursuing a B.A. at UNC-W in Philosophy and Religion. In Theatre Appreciation we covered some Philosophers that influenced Theatre mainly being Aristotle. Really it all started with Oedipus where I started to get really interested in Theatre History and draw connections to things I understood mainly as a Christian. However, I've always been a deep thinker, but have considered myself to be of simple mind at the same time...which can be pretty deep sometimes. I've studied some Christian Philosophers like Augustine, but never really knew I could major in Philosophy and Religion. Anyway, I've really enjoyed my professor in Theatre Appreciation this year, I haven't been able to thank her enough. She has opened up a whole new realm of thinking for me. The other day I asked her if she thought Philosophy and Theatre were closely related; in other words if Philosophy is in plays. I did my own little research and this is what I came up with below, I don't know what her opinions are about it however, I would venture to say that she would agree with this to an extent.
Philosophy begins when human beings start trying to understand the world. But not just understand it through religion or by accepting authority, but through the use of reason. Humans all reason differently, whether through Philosophy, Science, or the Arts such as Theatre or music, it is how one has come to understand and interpret their surroundings, answering the question: “Why?” Is Theatre and Philosophy closely related to each other? In essence, Theatre and Philosophy are in the same world of what they explore. They assess the world’s existence and our existence as human beings in trying to grasp a deeper understanding of what life is. It is about trying to bring the hidden knowledge and experience to light, organizing it publically in articulate form. They enrich one another through inspiration and criticism, because both represent life. Theatre and Philosophy are among the most fascinating and valuable things that civilization has produced. Theatre is valued because it reflects humanity, who a person is, or how they were-are-and may be. The future for philosophy and theatre is likely to grow richer more so than the past because people and how they experience and interpret life keeps changing; each generation experiences things differently. Also, the same things that inspired and changed theatre changed and inspired philosophers, the suffrage movement especially. Theatre reflects life, and through it one hopes to learn the truth, according to Greek Philosopher, Aristotle. He is quoted as saying, “In order to understand anything, we must know not only the material of which it is made, and the agent who made it, but also the purpose he had in making it, and the form he gave it in order to satisfy this purpose.” In one of his six elements what he defined theatre to be included, “thought,” which was the message of the story; what was the audience going to draw from the play so that they could understand life better, what their purpose was maybe.
The 20th Century and the Theatre of Unrest is a time when Theatre and Philosophy mirror each other especially through realism and naturalism. As theatre is being affected by events affecting Europe, most of the major Philosophers are from the European realm. German Philosopher, Arthur Schopenhouer believed it is through the arts such as poetry, theatre, and music that we are freed from “the tortures of our existence.” Through sitting in a theatrical event we experience and enjoy being out of time and space as though we are in touch with something outside the observed realm. In other words, one is in a different order of being. The playwright Chekhov mentions Schopenhouer in a few of his plays. Jean-Paul Sarte was not only a philosopher, but was also a playwright. His primary question was: “What is it like to be a human being?” He wants to describe what he called, “human reality.” In theatre this is called realism and naturalism. Theatre in this time period of “unrest” dealt with a lot of suicides such as in Hedda Gabbler, and A Dolls House. Schopenhouer states through his philosophy of “the will” that suicide is not the logical consequence of the loss of the will to live, because suicide is an act of will, not of will-lessness. However, philosopher Albert Camus wrote an essay called, “The Myth of Sisyphus” opening with this: “There is but one truly seriously philosophical problem and that is suicide. Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy.” He concludes that to destroy oneself is a kind of admission of defeat, or pride. Whereas Oedipus back in Greek theatre taught us a lesson in not being prideful, and in that we cannot escape our fate; plays such as Hedda or The Doll House shocks the audience because of what they are standing for in killing themselves. We are not so much taught a lesson, but more challenged in our thinking as to why these women are unhappy, and why they kill themselves; maybe we identify with them. However, it all links back to escaping your fate, and exploring that prideful nature. That, on the level of identifying with suicide, you inevitably learn you can’t escape your fate or outsmart God.
Theatre and Philosophy can go hand in hand with each other, they are not so different from each other.