The Next Theatre Center of the World

[son_of_a_gunn_25]

Posted: 11/21/07 at 4:41am

The center was once Greece, then Rome, then London. ( I say "center" in the loosest of terms.) New York is the the current "center" of the theatre world. Do you think there will be a new "center" in the future, do you think that professional theatre will become more decentralized, or do you think professional theatre will die out?

I personally think an Asian city will become a dominant force in the world of theatre and will be the center of an innovative new form of theatre that will become the world standard. I see an Indian city as the most promising to develop a world recognized theatre culture. (They already does have a pretty wonderful history, but few people know about it.)

If Communism falls in China soon, I think one of its cities could give an Indian city a run for its money though. (I think Communism will fall in China within the next 50 years, but that is another thread.) Maybe two cities would exist similar to New York and London? I know people who have toured to China and the Chinese people absolutely loved the musical theatre tunes in the areas they toured.

I think it is inevitable for an eastern shift in theatre throughout the world as we become more Asia-centric. I'd appreciate everyone's thoughts. If anyone has more experience in Asian cultures than I do and notice anything I say is based in ignorance, please feel free to correct me.

[ruthiefan_felix]

Posted: 11/21/07 at 6:15am

I think the 'current' theatre world is probably BOTH Broadway AND London. I personally think in the future China (esp Shanghai) will have a lot of shows goin in. Being a Chinese myself, I think the language itself is really complex (Cantonese more so than Mandarin!) and it just seems quite impossible to make a good translations! But hey, if they've done it for German, Japanese, Korean and Russian, why not Chinese?

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 11/21/07 at 11:03am

The center of the English-speaking world is both London and New York and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. There has always been theatre in Asia, India, Russia, France, Germany etc... but because of language differences and the very significant differences in the kinds of entertainments all these cultures enjoy, plays and musicals from Asia et al will never be a large part of the mainstream American culture (though there may be the occasional show from there that becomes popular here).

London, New York, Dublin, and the regional theaters throughout the US and UK will continue to be the primary sources of new work in the English-speaking theatre for the foreseeable future.

[Taka]

Posted: 11/21/07 at 11:09am

I wouldn't be surprised if several obsessed otakus revived kabuki theatre in Japan. . .

[WOSQ]

Posted: 11/21/07 at 11:45am

The Next Theatre Center of the World will be Camden, New Jersey.

The Mighty Oz has spoken.