Throughout High School, I was a big part of my school's drama department. my school had a pretty big department, with an entire building set aside for its auditorium. I participated in five different productions every school year--two main stage productions that were open to anyone in the school, and three productions that were set aside just for members of the "Advanced Drama" class. It was a blast. I had so much fun. I have easily lost track of how many plays I have been a part of over my life time. I've played the full gambit of roles, ranging from Romeo to Bum Number 6 (really), and I think I was pretty good. Not the best, but not too shabby, either.
There are many reasons I love the theatre. Going to watch a play is always an experience. There is something very different about watching live people perform in front of you, as compared to watching a screen in a dark movie theater. Watching a movie is a bit more passive. It could be a beautiful romance, or an action packed thriller, but the audience is still relegated to observing something that was finished long before they sat down. In live theatre, however, the story is literally being retold every night to a new audience. Every night, the actors are interacting with the script, the audience is interacting with the actors. A person is running the lights, a different person is running the sound, a full crew team is working in the back to make sure every piece of the set and every prop is in exactly the right place at exactly the right time. And all of this happens in perfect synchronicity...well...maybe not exactly. One thing that I learned during my time in theatre is that no two nights are the same. A production is a living, breathing beast every time the curtain rises. There are so many things that could go wrong every night, but still for the most part, everything usually seems to work out. The show must go on, right?
More than anything else, though, my absolute favorite aspect of the theatre--whether I'm on stage or off--is the characters. My favorite type of show is one with a simple set, and minimal props or flashy lights, and instead has very in-depth character development. When watching a play, I love to try to figure out what a given character is going to do next. I love to see how an actor interprets a role. I love to see how different actors interpret the same role. When acting in a play, I love to become a character. I love to get inside his brain and really understand exactly why he makes the choices he does. I love to lose myself in his life and really know what make him tick. I move stage right, not because my director tells me to, but because I feel myself drawn in that direction. I break down, cry, and beat my breast, not because it says so in the stage directions, but because my world is falling apart. I do this because I really understand what he needs and what makes him move.
Right about now you're probably scratching your head in confusion, asking yourself what the hell this has to do with economics. Most people think of economics (often called the "dismal science") as only having to do with money and interest rates and GDP. Actually, it is much more than that. I think of economics as a behavioral science which uses the tools of statistics, calculus, and marginal analysis to figure out what makes people tick. I usually tell people that economics is sort of like applied sociology. Economists (microeconomists, at least) often find themselves wondering why people do the things that they do. Instead of just trying to guess at this question, though, we try to actually measure it. We use data sets, statistical analysis and theoretical and mathematical models to describe how people respond to the world around them. If prices rise, what do people do? If the government imposes a tax, how do people react? If a minimum wage is set, what is the result? How do school administrators respond to mandatory school testing? (Keep this last one in mind for a later post!).
I guess you could say that I use both theatre and economics to fulfill the same passion within myself--my passion for people. I find people to be very interesting. I love talking to them. I love learning their likes, their dislikes, their hopes and their dreams. I love to understand why people do the things that they do. I love to understand what makes them tick. The theatre gives me an artistic medium through which I can explore the emotions and inner workings of people. Economics gives me the tools to analyze people's actions, and come up with objective, scientific reasons why people act in the ways that they do.
Anyway, I hope that I have convinced you that, although you don't need a utility function to analyze a play, economics has a lot more in common with the theatre than most people think.
Have a magical day!
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