CAPITALISM KILLED THE THEATRE STAR...

I find Darren O'Donnell's ideas on theatre really interesting.
He argues that theatrical performances can not be duplicated. I agree. Once performed, they are finished. Other performances may take place, but none will be the same as the other. Theatrical performances are unique- they can not be duplicated.
O'Donnell also claims that theatrical performances can not be mass-produced. Again, I agree. Each performance is unique. And each takes time to develop. There is no production line of theatre where identical performances are churned out in masses. Even if an artist decides to perform 25 times a day, he is not mass producing the performances. In fact, if he does perform 25 times a day, his work will probably be seen as one large unit, one large performance as opposed to 25 smaller ones.
O'Donnell says : "Recording the event is next to impossible, and the published playscripts, while a commodity within the industry, hold little interest outside the field". I disagree with this point. Yes, it is true that if a theatre performance is recorded on camera, it will lose its dimensionality. However, with the advancement of camera and editing techniques, and the ability to juxtapose different camera angles on the same screen, one can record theatre and watch it without much loss of effect. As far as the playscripts are concerned, I think it depends on the fame and size of the theatre performance. If it is well received or well known, the playscripts may hold great value. However, the value of the playscripts is not really the issue because other artifacts related to theatre may hold capitalist value. For example, theatre venues hold a nostaligic as well as cultural value. People visit these theatres because of the theatre's history- who has visited there, who has performed there. Current plays also increase the venue's value.

I feel that theatre can be commodified and capitalised upon, but its value depends heavily on other media. Advertisements on television and the radio for a performance correlate with the number of people in the audience. The larger and more financially sound the theatre is, the more advertisements it can afford to put out. And the more ads that are played over the media, the greater the number of people listening/watching. The more people viewing/hearing the ads, the more people attending on the opening night. The more people in the audience, the more tickets sold. And this way...more money is made.
As the audience watches the play, critics publish reviews about it. These reviews are part of magazines/newspapers/television content. Their audience reads the reviews, and depending on the review, more people will go/choose not to go to the play.
During the performance, television camera attempt to record the action. They also interview the actors, producer and director. That night, the footage is aired on the news. This, again, informs more people about the play.

However, capitalism did have a negative effect on the arts. Since the rise of Positivism, people have trusted the scientist more than the artiste. And today, the economist is considered crucial to society while the artiste is just entertainment. Capitalism has taken our imaginations and locked them up in white cubicles on Bay Street/Wall Street. Capitalism has prescribed 9-5 formulaic lifestyles for the Western man (and often woman), leaving very few hours every night for family time. Capitalism promotes work, not leisure. It promotes formulae, not creativity. Capitalism takes people away from art performances and theatre.
The lifestyle that capitalism promotes does not leave time for entertainment of socializing. It has affected all the arts to an extent, though I feel that theatre suffered the most. People do not have time to dedicate entire evenings to watching a performance. They would rather use their remote control to fast forward their movie and get to the climax. They would rather sleep the well-deserved 6 hours of sleep which is a rarity.

Capitalism killed the theatre star...