My Guess on the Origin of Theater
After learning about the five theories of the origins of theater, I think the theory that I believe in and that interests me the most is Richard Schechner's Theory of Transformation. This theory is very simular to the Theory of Ritual in that it relates to tradition and religion, but it takes a new perspective on the idea. Instead of focusing on theater originating from overall rituals, the Theory of Transformation relates more specifically to transformations (marriage for example) influencing theater. One of his main points is that those who are witnessing the ritual that is taking place, are the transformers. For example, when two people get married, they start the ceremony as different people to the married individuals at the end of the ceremony, thus, the audience have witnessed a transformation. This can be tied into theater as well. When an audience comes to see the show, they walk into the theater as different people to themselves when they walk out. They witness a story and characters who may be meaningful to them and find themselves to be engaged in this story. The audience has been transformed. This can also be explained by saying that the audience can be transformed by becoming a winner or loser based on their judgment of the production. In the end, I found this theory to be the most fascinating and close to what I believe to be true on the origins of theater.