The Culture of Theater

Since the birth of theater, sometime during the reign of the ancient Greeks, theater has expressed the mood, accomplishments, and goings-on of the society in which the work was created. Thus it can be said that "any work of art stands as a creative representation of the time and culture in which it was created."

Culture affects theater in many ways; for starts, it serves as inspiration to the writer. For example, the musical Rent, may not have been written by Jonathan Larson if the AIDS pandemic never gripped the world, or if poverty didn't exist. The fact of the matter is that the events that occur in the plays often parallel the cultural situation that is experienced by the writer. Theater is more than just a piece of writing known as drama; it is also an event (Hischak 1). Thus, the current culture can affect theater in other ways besides affecting the basic plot of the play. The director, actors, or designers, can all have effects on how theater is perceived and what it is about. Oedipus Rex may have been written a thousand years or more ago, but when it is performed in modern society cultural aspects of modern society are expressed. For example, the actors may display emotion different that the original Greek actors and the designers may use props or costumes that were not commonly used in ancient Greek theater.

On the contrary theater also affects society by influencing how people view others with differing opinions and lifestyles. For example, Rent exposed the lives of those who are living in poverty as well as those who are gay and lesbian, and those who are living with AIDS. By making the lives and struggles of these people known to the audience, the audience begins to view people with these opinions and lifestyles differently than if they had never viewed the musical. Theater also effects culture in general, for example something may be done in a play that is not popular may become popular after the play thus changing the culture. Furthermore, theater because it does represent the culture in which it is originally created can act as small representation of the views and ideals of that era. Shakespeare's Hamlet and Macbeth for example give small glimpses of what life was like during the Elizabethan era in England. Perhaps someday the plays of the current era will be looked at by future generations and provide insight into the cultural ideals of our society.

Let's take a moment to apply the previous discussion to the play A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry. A Raisin in the Sun was first performed in 1959 at time when in the United States was in the turmoil of the Cold War as well as in the midst of the civil rights and feminist movements (A Raisin in the Sun, Context). The play tells the story of the Younger family who lives in a small apartment in Chicago. The plot revolves around the recent death of Mr. Younger on whose insurance money balances the hopes and dreams of the entire family. Walter Younger, Mr. Younger's son is entranced by the thought of the money and hopes to invest in a liquor store, Walter's sister Beneatha on the other hand has dreams of attending medical school and paying off college loans. However, their mother has other plans for the recently acquired wealth, and she purchases a home in a predominantly white neighborhood. This causes a great deal of conflict between the members of Younger family as well as members of the home owners association in the neighborhood where Lena Younger purchased the house. More conflict arises when after Lean entrusts the remainder of the money to Walter, who loses it in a bad investment. In the end the family must decide if they should move to the new neighborhood or if they should remain in the small, cramped apartment and accept the money that the home owners association offers them to not move to the new house. The family elects the former, and at the end of the play, Lena takes one last look at the old apartment before closing the door to her old life.

A Raisin in the Sun clearly represents the time and society in which it was written. The Younger's are like many African Americans of the 1950's who worked minimum wage jobs and lacked the finances to better their lives. Similar to the select few African Americans who were able to better themselves during this era, the Younger's too felt pressure from white society to remain with others of their race in fear for their lives. Lorraine Hansberry's family was one of these select few who were able to purchase a home in a white neighborhood but faced threats on their lives because of this bold move (A Raisin in the Sun, Context).

The play also has pieces that convey the ideas of the women's rights movements and the problems that this movement encountered (A Raisin in the Sun, Context). These ideas are seen in Beneatha, who is constantly looking to do new things and is at school getting an education something that many women of the era simply did not do. Beneatha experiences like many other women the harsh opinions of those that believe that women should support the husband and have children, among them her own brother, Walter who expresses his opposition to women's rights throughout the play. Furthermore, to many money was the soul concern which caused a generation gap between grandparents who were simply happy to be alive and children who wanted more than what they had. Throughout the play, Lena Younger does not understand why her children are so consumed by the idea of money; Lena simply wants to keep her family together and for them to be happy.

A Raisin in the Sun also affected the culture of the 1950's by shedding light on the problem of race relations and the unbalanced socioeconomic status that faced African Americans of the era. The play was performed in a predominantly white theater and its performance marked the first play that featured a cast that was chiefly African American and whose plot concerned serious issues that African Americans coped with (A Raisin in the Sun). The audience was actually made to look at the issues and feel sympathy for the African American people for the first time in theatrical history. Thus A Raisin in the Sun changed how white society looked at African Americans and assisted in changing the culture of the time.

Overall, theater affects society just as much as society affects theater and "any work of art stands as a creative representation of the time and culture in which it was created." Together culture and theater sculpt the world that we live in and create a new tomorrow that can be experienced by future theatergoers in times to come.

Bibliography

"A Raisin in the Sun." Movie Diva. Nov 2004. 27 Apr 2009 .

"A Raisin in the Sun, Context." Spark Notes. 2009. Spark Notes. 27 Apr 2009.

Hischak, Thomas S. Theatre as Human Action. Lanham: The Rowman and Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc., 2006. Print.