I got an email from a 17 year old reader from Miami, FL who is taking classes at my alma mater this summer.  We’ll call him David . . . because that’s his name.

One of David’s classes is called “Theatre in New York” and it’s a class “dealing with the philosophy of performance, particularly in relation to theatre seen both on and Off-Broadway.  The class culminates in a presentation where I, as part of a group, must answer the question, “What is Theatre?””

David’s group has decided to ask all sorts of folks in and out of the biz for their answer to that question.

Tough question, right?  At first I tried to come up with a clever answer like the urban mythical Harvard applicant who when asked on his application to “Use the space below to describe yourself” answered with one word.  “Brief.”

Here’s what I came up with.

What is Theatre?

Theatre is the only art form that exists in the present tense.

Film was.

Books were.

Theatre is.

What is Theatre to you?

Use the space below to comment your thoughts.  To quote our good friend, David . . .

There are no parameters, no rules.  It can be as long as you want, as short as you want, as specific as you want, as broad as you want.  We thank you for sharing your time to help us with our project (and our grades).