Is the term 'Theatre' useful?

Is the term 'Theatre' useful?

Ged Stephenson, 2 September 2012

Quite a number of people dropped in and out of the session. I became too involved in the discussion to make a note of everyone's names.....sorry :-(

The question arose because I was watching people discussing ‘theatre’ and wondered if everyone was speaking about the same thing.
We had a fascinating discussion that went to many destinations...so here are a few bullet points:

The biggest pot of money is for ‘theatre’ so it is useful as a way of potentially accessing this ‘pot’
Theatre is hierarchical
Theatre is a building

Theatre is not a building. It's a thing Does the term offer pre-conceptions If so, can we usurp them
Is the term ‘Theatre’ reductive

Is an understanding of it cultural Who is the term for
Who does it belong to
Is it useful

Does it describe what we do
Is it all-encompassing (outside performance/inside performance)

What else can we call it: 'Theatricity'
'More To Life' 'Alternative'

'Native Alter'

??????? If those who took part feel I have missed something significant from our discussion please let me know and I'll add later :-)

Tags:

Performance, definition, Theatre, theatre, performance