Amateur versus Community

Heyas again, Grant Watson mentioned above a fact that everone HERE knows that everyone else HERE agrees with - that theatre is theatre. But sometimes people wonder if the general public thinks the same? Well, think of this: whilst professional theatre in Perth has been arguably (well, statistically, if you're going to measure over decades) dying - and at the very least is fighting for mainstream relevance, do you know what the MOST common surveyed cultural activity amongst Perth residents was last year? Going to the theatre. Their local community theatre. Now I'm not going to pretend that GRADS summer shakespeare is better than Bell Shakespeare (to put that comment in context: I've acted in 6 of the past 8 GRADS summer shakespeares, but I strongly doubt I'd ever get a guernsey with Bell:-)). But what the above fact shows, is that in terms of dollar-value, providing a great night's entertainment at a reasonable cost.....community theatre wins handsdown. Back on the original topic - I remember another reason why I like the term 'community theatre' (and yes I realise that the general public doesn't differentiate between such terms - I'm just explaining my preference). I remember in much younger days, before I developed my current aversion to sunlight, I used to compete in a different type of club - the local surf-lifesaving swimming tournaments. Now many people might not know this, but if you go over to the national surflifesaving club championships, you'll see all of Australia's top olympic swimmers - Grant Hackett, Ian Thorp etc all swimming under their local club colours. Now a lot of people would think that as Olympic champions, swimming for a club-meet would be beneath them. But no, it's still their local club, and they're a part of it. So what has that got to do with theatre, you ask? Rightly or wrongly, I just think that community theatre sounds so much more inclusive. It gives the idea that this is a club where someone can learn to act/direct/stagemanage, and then go on to perform regularly with for the rest of their performing life, irrespective of whether they make performing their job outside of that club. Where people who work in offices by day can perform with people who act professionally or part-professionally in an environment where such distinctions are meaningless, simply because they both have histories of performing with, watching and being part of that theatre group. Ok, so maybe that's wildly optimistic - but I think it's exactly what local theatre groups should aim for. I think that, more than any definitional issue, is probably the main reason why my preference is for the term 'community theatre'. But, yes, I acknowledge and agree that as many of you have said, it's all pretty irrelevant anyway, theatre is theatre. Actor, martial artist and soon-to-be (as of Jan 07!!! Philosophy PhD student. Making myself less employable one step at a time:-)