A ‘night at the theatre’ has long been considered a refined, middle class way to fritter away an evening. And whilst nowadays lots of theatres seem to be attempting to combat this stereotype by featuring ‘special appearances’ which you’d more likely suspect from your own mum before ever guessing the long forgotten reality TV star they’ve actually tracked down, are these appearances really all that special or exclusive?
Cons:
Are they really the best trained theatre actors? Obviously, the runner-up of the third series of I’m A Celeb/former Sugababe/washed up Neighbours star will have taken some form of theatre performance class to prepare themselves for their big meritable debut, but there are thousands of drama school-trained graduates wasting away on the streets of London regretting chasing their ‘Rent’ dreams, who could most probably do a better job. Is it any wonder that Drama is often branded the degree that produces the most unemployed grads when directors are more interested in the Old Big Thing than the New Big Thing?
Attracting people to the show for the wrong reason? More so a concern of the theatre-goers themselves rather than the theatre running the show who would presumably be most concerned with revenue. Someone who attends a performance wholly to see Gareth Gates’ acting debut may not fully appreciate the other actors or director’s intent – and if they’re unhappy with what they view as the pinnacle of the show, this inevitably taints their overall impression. In reviews especially, the use of a television star can detract from the attention paid to the rest of the cast. This matter of being enticed by (possibly) false pretences could result in the viewer’s not enjoying the show and simply being a waste of money.
Is it cheapening the theatre experience? The reason the theatre is so popular is because one can simply lose themselves in a different century/country/world for an evening – a quality hard to achieve when the poster boy of everything the stereotypical theatre-goer detests about populist society is playing the leading role.
So, special appearances. In pantomimes at Christmas? Sure. Featuring a high end Hollywood actor (that sells out instantly)? Slightly more inclined. But in my opinion, special appearances from on screen actors just aren’t the right way to bring in an audience.
Riona Doherty
The Student
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