The theater - How performing arts can differ

  

When you go to travel you also have to include some culture in your travel plans. This led me to plenty of concerts, theatre performances, musicals, and other rather interesting events. Now I want to try and compare very different mediums which is arbitrary but fun.

To clear things up, I consider everything art form upon a stage performing arts. I know that deep down each medium is different and I can´t shove them in a box labelled theatre or performing arts. It is not fair but for the sake of simplicity, I am going to run with it.

Let´s go through each medium chronologically based on which one I went to first. The first one in this case would be a classical concert at the Royal Albert Hall and I still can´t really say I am a huge fan of classical music.

By comparison to all the other performing mediums, classical music is very boring. It is an art form on its own in my opinion but a very boring artform for the fact that it needs to be performed on a stage. Just simply by comparison.

In and of itself, if you should take your eyes off the conductor and focus on each member of the orchestra, you will notice that each member of the orchestra is very dedicated to their work and puts a lot of emotion into their work.

Together as a whole, the orchestra sounds fantastic and the conductor in the front allows each member of the orchestra to blend together in perfect harmony. And that is the beauty of classical music. However, you either like or dislike this art form.

For me, someone with a rather short attention span I do not find it psychologically possible to sit through a three-hour long concert with just listening and not much else to do. In other words, and as mentioned, classical music concerts and I are not meant to be.

There are small aspects of a classical concert which can entertain the most hyperactive of brains but much more there isn’t to do in a concert hall with everyone dressed up and formally, there isn’t much room for any sort of shenanigans.

Moving on. The next show on our agenda was a musical because if you go to London you have to go to a musical whether famous or not. A musical is a must. And I only realized that now since I have been to London before without visiting a musical and it is just a shame.

In London, I went to the award-winning musical Hamilton, and I can just say listening to the soundtrack or watching the film didn´t do the musical in real life any justice. In the theatre, the musical was so much better than anywhere else.

I guess the main difference was that the actors on stage interacted with the audience. This is an experience that can´t be experienced through the screen. Different actors also have different deliveries of the words in their scripts.

Since we are all human, each actor can potentially mess up which makes the musical oh so much better. In the musical I was in Alexander Hamilton dropped the papers he gave to James Reynolds. So even though the core of the musical stayed the same, there are some differences.

Hamilton was also a great example of how theatre differs from the screen since in the musical were canon shots. So, each time the sound of cannon shots, the whole theatre was vibrating with each shot. Which was something you can´t really feel through the screen.

All in all, I like the format of musicals even though the seating was unfortunate. Since your whole experience could be ruined if one tall person sat in front of you blocking your whole view. Luckily it didn’t happen but it could and I can imagine how terrible it is.

The next stop on this theatre-filled journey was an actual play in a theatre. A Shakespeare play in the globe theatre. Not the original globe theatre due to political and theatrical reasons but a damn accurate recreation near the original site of the globe theatre.

Being in the globe theatre is like being transported back in time to Shakespearean time, with the groundlings standing in the pit and the others seated in the seats around the theatre. The buttocks cushions (historically probably inaccurate term) cost extra like they used to do as well.

In my opinion, being a groundling is not the worst option since you are so close to the action and sometimes get to interact with the actors onstage. So, all in all, I believe being a groundling is the best seat in the house.

As a whole, I can´t say I am a huge fan of Shakespearean plays I didn’t study when I was in school since even though I spent plenty of time in school studying Shakespeare, I didn’t understand a word. I got the whole schtick of the play but if you ask me what those actors were saying, I wouldn’t be able to help.

Unlike Shakespeare´s plays back in the day, the play we went to see was more of a modern interpretation which made the already hard-to-understand play so much harder to understand. But if you are there just for the performance and not for the story, a Shakespearean play in the Globe Theatre is just the thing for you.

As for me, I will look for other theatrical performances more up my alley. Next time, I would try to go to a Shakespearean play which I already know when I should visit the Globe Theatre. Otherwise, I would generally try to avoid theatre since it is not quite mine even though the performance was great.

From the Globe Theatre in London to the Military Tattoo at Edinburgh Castle. Those performing arts couldn’t be more different. One was limited to a rather small stage while the other had the whole castle grounds for their magnificent performance.

The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo is truly a night to remember because there wasn’t a second when you could have been bored. The whole evening was filled with plenty of music, and dancing and honestly, the evening was filled with what I can only describe as magic.

It just seemed that everyone could come together from every culture as one and perform some traditional dances, play some regional music and still be able to come together no matter their differences, which is just an amazing thing to see these days.

Each second of the night was filled with traditional clothing, glitter and a lot of colours. I can´t say for sure since I have never been to Brazil but from the pictures and videos I have seen, it seemed like another carnival in another colder country.

Hate to repeat myself, but the whole evening was bloody cold even though it was taking place in the middle of august which just seems so bizarre at that time of year but I just forgot that I was in Scotland for the Military tattoo, so I don’t know why I was imagining anything different.

At the start of the tattoo, the Air Force flies over our heads, and then the sound of bagpipes filled the air. Everything which came afterwards just seems like an amazing dream you are having with all the colours, lighting, and music.

The end of the military tattoo was indicated by the fireworks filling the night sky and it was almost sad when it ended since it was like waking up from the most amazing dream you ever had. All you have now are pictures and memories.

This is more up my alley since there is just so much for you take in, the performances were captivating, and the music was more to my taste. Each act was better than the last and the whole tattoo is concluded perfectly with every performer back on stage for one last collaboration.

Just like every great dream, it had to end so it was time to go back to Germany for the next performance. The stage? How about the whole street? After the military tattoo in Scotland, to another sort of parade marching down the German streets.

Unlike the artistic marches at the military tattoo, the marches here were more formal. Honestly, I am surprised that this could be considered a performance since people are just marching down the streets. By comparison nothing artistic or performative about that.

On top of that is the marching music. I guess together it can be considered a performance of some sort since a lot of performances I have seen over my holiday were simply people doing something along the rhythm of the music, so I shouldn’t be a grinch about parades.

Besides the music and the marching, there wasn’t anything all too spectacular about summer parades in Germany. People in uniform walk down the streets with beautiful flowers and time-worn marching music.

Again not quite my thing since standing on the sidewalk watching people walk by is not quite my thing but if it is yours I strongly encourage you to check out the parades happening all over Germany during the summer months.

One last performance, which could easily outdo the parade in my books. A circus performance. To be perfectly honest, I am surprised as well since as I child I hated the circus because I had an unexplainable fear of creepy things, especially clowns and circuses are normally full of them.

However, this performance was nothing like being in the circus since the seats were nice and plush and the beverages and snacks you order will arrive at your seat before the performance starts, which I have never seen before and I really like that concept.

On the ground floor, you can enjoy a three-course dinner while enjoying the show but since we already had dinner we opted for the drinks instead. What was great about the food however was that it fit in with the theme.

The performance on the other hand was alright since it was your typical circus performance with those acrobats. However, unlike the circus, it was more entertaining since you get to take part in the performance if you so choose during the audience participation acts.

Like the military tattoo, the ending of the whole show was where each performer came back for one last huzzah. They sang and danced on that stage filled with props from the current theme of the Apollo theatre performance which in our case was a Bavarian hut party.

All in all, I can´t say anything bad about the theatrical circus performance. Nonetheless, the acts were something you have probably already seen before so besides the performers being unique their acts were not.

After looking back at my cultural trip through a lot of performing arts, I can say I most certainly have my favourites. For instance, my current favourite type of performance is musicals with all the singing and dancing. I would love to visit more in the future.

On my journey, I also had a few surprises like that the military tattoo was actually quite good. I didn’t expect anything when going into the tattoo but I went out positively astonished, which is quite rare for me and I would most certainly watch it again in the future. If in Scotland or on TV are still being discussed.

After watching so many performances I also had a feeling that I was missing something. Then I realized that I didn’t quite get the chance to watch the ballet or opera. I am more of a fan of ballet to be honest since I was a ballet dancer back in my childhood hobby-switching spree.

I am rather undecided when it comes to Operas to be honest since I just fear that I will not understand anything like the Shakespearean Theatre. Otherwise, I would love to watch the opera if I should have the opportunity.

So until I watch any other performances in the future, this is my most up-to-date review of the performances I have been to over the summer. When I do eventually check out the ballet, I will be back but until then…