Theatre vs. Film/TV

Recently, I was talking with a student about his career goals and he told me he was going to teach because he wanted to stay a theatre actor.  I was intrigued because, of course, we live in a city dedicated to film and television.  Our discussion caused me to consider why I chose to come to LA to pursue an acting career when I, too, really love theatre.

My first calling was to theatre when I was sixteen.  I am theatre trained.  My early professional career was in regional summer stock.  I love the synergy that happen between actor and audience in live theatre.  I am passionate about the process.  Still, when the time came to choose between New York and Los Angeles...theatre or film and television...I chose LA.

My reasoning was this.  I've always been jealous of my visual art, writer and musician friends.  They have a permanence about their work.  When they have finished creating, they have a painting or sculpture, a story or a composition.  When I finish my work as a theatre artist, it's gone.  It can't be repeated.  Theatre is ephemeral because of the audience factor.  No two audiences are alike and each audience's interaction with the actors in a performance makes for a different show every night.  I longed to have something to mark my creativity.

Film and television does that.  When I have finished my work, I can look at it and reflect on it, critique and, hopefully, improve my technique.  I can go back in time and watch early work and see how I have changed (again, hopefully for the better).  It is, in a sense, my shot at immortality.

The downside is that film and television performance are contrived by someone other than myself.  The director, the director of photography, the editor all influence my performance with how they cut the piece.  Most times, only a portion of my full performance makes it to the screen.  Sometimes, my best work lays on the cutting room floor.

Theatre gives me the control of my acting.  My whole creation makes it to the stage.  The audience response will shape my performance, but I can also shape the audience's response.  It is the synergy that makes the magic.

As I ponder on whether or not I made the right choice, I can't tell you which craft is more engaging for me.  To be honest, I like them both.  Just wish film and television liked me better.  At least I have a little bit of immortality.  Maybe that will be enough.