Name: Thanh Thi Hai Nguyen

Date: 4/27/2017

THEATRE PRODUCTIONS VS. MOVIES

In the busy life of the city, people often lack time for fun and relaxation but when

they do find time, they often spend it on entertainment by watching productions, either on

stage or in film. People often choose between theatre productions or movies based on

their preferences. The purpose of this essay is to compare and contrast the entertainment

level, the quality of the characters’ performances and impact to the audience of theatre

productions and movies.

Theatre productions and movies are both entertaining but they have entertainment

levels which vary, depending on how they are presented and how the audience perceives

them. Since the main point of these it to entertain people, either through drama, comedy,

or action, it is important that they reach a high level of entertainment in order to entice

more people to watch them. Costumes, props, effects and the like add to entertainment

level. Most people find movies more entertaining because movies have more enhanced

visual and audio effects for they can be edited through the use of computers and other

equipment involved in movie productions. Theatre productions, on the other hand, have

limited effects. They are presented live, therefore they cannot be edited. In order to add

more effects to the production, they rely on props and sound effects.
 Other than the effects, people also look at the quality of the characters’

performances. Movies and theatre production teams usually hire or cast trained and

experienced actors and actresses to play a part in their movie or stage production. In

movies, since they are filmed, the actors and actresses can easily correct their mistakes.

Whenever they make their mistakes, the director can just shout “cut”, omit that scene and

film again. For theatre productions, however, actors and actresses do their performances

live so they have to be perfect in carrying out their roles. There is no director to cut the

play and repeat the scene again during the actual performance day.

Having these characteristics, movies and theatre productions have a different

impact on the audience. Audience impact partly depends on the preferences of the people.

Some people are more affected or moved by theatre productions, others by movies. Even

so, movies have greater impact on people because they have a wider audience. They are

more accessible and cheaper. Theatre productions are not available for everybody and not

a lot of people are fond of them either.

Although movies and theatre productions are both entertaining, I prefer watching

movies because they are more practical and they have more enhanced visual and audio

effects. But, in order to truly compare and contrast these two forms of entertainment, one

must experience them both first.