As a parent, you can encourage your child to study hard and focus on studies to build a career out of it. But what if their interest is in some other field like in theatre acting?
If you know that your child is more dramatic than others, why not use your child’s dramatic expression to create his passion for theatres and acting? If not regularly, then at least on a trial basis. After all, exposure is what every child needs to understand in what area he really is interested in. Participating in theatre acting is one of the fields that can really boost your child’s confidence and give him the amount of exposure he requires. Acting, singing, performing, or just pretending to act are different theatre activities that can really boost your child’s imagination and will positively affect his/her development.
Myths v Reality
Well, there are still some stereotypes and perceptions in parents’ minds about theatre acting, which are absolutely false. If you are of the opinion that pursuing a career in theatre acting is difficult, then which profession is a cakewalk? If theatre acting can be a hobby, then why not a career?
Moreover, many think that theatre acting is all singing, dancing, a bit of acting, and it’s so easy to do, but it’s not true. It takes a lot of hard work and practice to perform in a theatre live among thousands of audiences. Moreover, the pressure to impress them by the role is another challenge. Further, there is also a stereotype of gender roles that boys should not perform opposite gender roles while performing an act. But why so? They are just roles that have to be performed, and who know that character can impact audiences about how good actor the performer is.
The stereotypes and perceptions need to change, and parents should start looking at the positive aspect of theatre acting –
7 Reasons to encourage children to take up theatre acting
There are several reasons why parents should encourage children to take up theatre acting, and some of them are mentioned below:
Boosts confidence and builds self-esteem
Kids are often limited to the only school play. That’s why theatre can be an option to give your child more opportunities to learn something.
Theatre not only brings out the child from their comfort zone but also develops a quality of self-belief and self-confidence. The more the child does theatre and performs, the greater the child learns new experiences in life and gains knowledge in one way or another.
Opens personality
Suppose your child is shy and hesitates to be socially connected to people. In that case, the theatre can help break all the barriers and develop the interpersonal connections between the child and other kids or actors. People will appreciate them for what they are and do at theatres. Thus, the all-hands-on-deck feature of theatre will surely socialize your child if he/she is a hesitant participant.
Theatre acting teaches teamwork
Though we all know that sports teach us the importance of teamwork while competing against a rival team, when it comes to theatres, it teaches us teamwork and how to work together as a team on the stage without competing with anybody. Here everybody is working to give his/her best to make the show an excellent one. Teammates will be happier if you perform well as your performance can make the show a memorable one.
Improves the communication skills
When you do theatre, you need to have conversations with people every day, deliver your dialogue to the audience, you basically learn how to speak in public. Voice modulation, Vocal projection, and expressing your emotions to people will be a lot easier tasks for you than before. Moreover, your child might learn different languages as well as you will be performing dramas in different languages.
A child learns different cultures through theatre acting
Theatre brings people from different cultures and traditions together under one roof. This helps in developing respect for every culture and also teaches new things about a different culture. Moreover, the child has to perform different dramas on different topics, cultures, and ideas, which allows them to adopt that culture’s character and perform and feel it. The child starts understanding the diversity of people who live worldwide and the different cultures, traditions, and languages they speak.
Teaches patience
Kids who perform or attend live theatres learn patience and master concentration. It teaches how to be quiet and sit patiently and wait for your turn to showcase your talent. Moreover, it increases the concentration level of oneself as being a theatre artist. After all, one needs to focus and give proper concentration to the character to perform well on the stage without much nervousness. One can only get into the character’s shoes if he/she has the quality of being patient and can concentrate.
Increases creativity
Theatre is all about being passionate, having imaginative skills, and being creative in every character you perform. Unlike Television or movie, where one gets a chance for retakes, if one goes wrong or forget dialogue in theatres, the person needs to be creative enough to cover up as if nothing happened and the play is going as planned. The creativity that one uses during the performance results from daily practices and attending live theatre performances and theatre acting helps master this art.
Ways in which your child can join theatre acting
Mentioned below are a few ways in which you can encourage your child to join theatre acting:
Encourage participation in school plays and theatres.
Contact local theatres artist
Audition for a part
Make your own content and act in front of a mirror
Working backstage as a member of the crew.
Parting words
There is no denying that encouraging your child to take up theatre acting will develop some life skills and provide a variety of career options for the child to pursue. It’s time for you to let the child be what he/she wants to be.
