Is theatre’s renaissance right now just one of life’s stages?

OUT of all the things which I thought my old school friend and I would ever discuss, the joys of a trip to the theatre would have been very low down on the list.

But recently my old mate and I took a rare and unusual detour away from the fortunes of the football team we support, and our own fantasy football sides, and ventured into the soft carpet and mood lighting of the stage world.

Having known him since before we even reached our teenaged years, few subjects tend to land on our plates, as I suspect is also the case with many male friendships and friendship groups.

Sport is a common denominator, not least as we grew up spending our days in his back yard playing football, in one of our rooms playing video games, or in his treehouse. In adulthood, the theme of sport continues as it is a relatively safe topic on which we are unlikely to fall out, or it will be work or holidays.

Yet the subject of the theatre made a rare appearance in our conversational territory recently, partly as I had been to see a show at Theatre Royal Plymouth and rather enjoyed myself.

I’ve been lucky enough to see a few stage productions in recent years, partly as a reviewer for the newspaper and partly as I have a partner who is a big fan of the theatre herself.

But I was not expecting my friend to admit that he too enjoys a night out at the theatre, albeit where he lives, in Bournemouth.

This got me thinking whether I have just reached a certain stage of life where things such as theatre, as well as hobbies like gardening and arguing, are more age-appropriate.

However, it is entirely possible that the theatre could be going through something of a renaissance – or even the start of a golden age – for other reasons.

The presence of larger TV screens and a plethora of streaming services means we can watch movies every night, from the comfort of our living room and without having to pay £7 for a bag of popcorn.

In reality, the cinema remains a much more affordable choice for an evening out, even if you factor in the high price of snacks, but perhaps it does not have the magic it once did when our home screens were smaller and there was a choice of four or maybe five channels, or a VHS cassette from Blockbusters.

A theatre show, like a music concert or other live entertainment, will always be unique, if only in the tiny differences from one night to the next.

Actors are not robots and will vary and modify their performances.

A good show, like a comedy night, perhaps, will also reflect the energy of the audience back to them, delivering comedy, music or powerful emotional displays, and is almost an interactive experience as you are encouraged to laugh or sometimes clap along in parts.

In short, you are part of the show because you are there, unlike a movie theatre, which will play along to a half-empty audience exactly the same as a full one.

Plus, if you are in the cinema, doing anything other than sitting in silence and rustling in the popcorn bucket isn’t acceptable.

Like a live football match (sorry, it had to come back to sport), there is something visceral about the theatre as you can feel the thump of dancers landing on the stage, or the scrape of props being moved.

I think the theatre could be in for a bright future, especially in Plymouth where productions like The Artist and The Devil Wears Prada will be unveiled this year.

If there is one thing I would change, it’s that I wish the seats were bigger. But maybe that is another sign of my shift into middle age...