“Theatre has nothing to do with buildings or other physical constructions. Theatre — or theatricality — is the capacity, this human property which allows man to observe himself in action, in activity.”

— Augusto Boal

The Rainbow of Desire (1995)
Context: Theatre has nothing to do with buildings or other physical constructions. Theatre — or theatricality — is the capacity, this human property which allows man to observe himself in action, in activity. The self-knowledge thus acquired allows him to be the subject (the one who observes) of another subject (the one who acts). It allows him to imagine variations of his action, to study alternatives. Man can see himself in the act of seeing, in the act of acting, in the act of feeling, the act of thinking. Feel himself feeling, think himself thinking.

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Augusto Boal 14

Brazilian writer 1931–2009

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“In its most archaic sense, theatre is the capacity possessed by human beings—and not by animals—to observe themselves in action.”

Augusto Boal (1931–2009) Brazilian writer

Games for Actors and non-Actors (1992)
Context: In its most archaic sense, theatre is the capacity possessed by human beings—and not by animals—to observe themselves in action. Humans are capable of seeing themselves in the act of seeing, of thinking their emotions, of being moved by their thoughts. They can see themselves here and imagine themselves there; they can see themselves today and imagine themselves tomorrow. This is why humans are able to identify (themselves and others) and not merely to recognise.

“Two Chinamen visiting Europe went to the theatre for the first time. One of them occupied himself with trying to understand the theatrical machinery, which he succeeded in doing. The other, despite his ignorance of the language, sought to unravel the meaning of the play. The former is like the astronomer, the latter the philosopher.”

Arthur Schopenhauer book Parerga and Paralipomena

Vol. 2 "On Various Subjects" as translated in Essays and Aphorisms (1970), as translated by R. J. Hollingdale
Parerga and Paralipomena (1851), Counsels and Maxims

“Theatre is a form of knowledge; it should and can also be a means of transforming society. Theatre can help us build our future, rather than just waiting for it.”

Augusto Boal (1931–2009) Brazilian writer

Source: Games for Actors and non-Actors (1992), p. xxxi

“Those who are susceptible to depravity do not need cinema or theatre to mislead them. There are numerous other factors which lead to immorality.”

Dadasaheb Phalke (1870–1944) Indian producer-director-screenwriter

In [Kaur, Raminder, Sinha, Ajay J, Bollyworld: Popular Indian Cinema Through A Transnational Lens, http://books.google.com/books?id=DGtNhQsLl7wC&pg=PA13, 13 July 2005, SAGE Publications, 978-0-7619-3321-2, 13]
Quote

“Men and women go to the theatre only to hear of love, and to take part in the pains or in the joys that it has caused. All the other interests of humanity remain at the door.”

Alexandre Dumas, fils (1824–1895) French writer and dramatist, son of the homonym writer and dramatist

Les hommes et les femmes ne se réunissent au théâtre que pour entendre parler de l'amour, et pour prendre part aux douleurs et aux joies qu'il cause. Tous les autres intérêts de l'humanité restent à la porte.
Preface to La Femme de Claude (Paris: Michel Lévy, 1873) p. xxxiii; translation from Henri Pène du Bois (trans. and ed.) French Maxims of the Stage (New York: Brentano's, 1894) p. 49.

“The world’s a theatre, the earth a stage
Which God and Nature do with actors fill.”

Thomas Heywood (1574–1641) English playwright, actor, and author

Apology for Actors, (1612). Compare: "The world's a stage on which all parts are played", Thomas Middleton, A Game of Chess (1624), Act v. Sc. 1.; "All the world ’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players", Shakespeare, As You Like It, Act ii. Sc. 7.

“As a genius of construction man raises himself far above the bee in the following way: whereas the bee builds with wax that he gathers from nature, man builds with the far more delicate conceptual material which he first has to manufacture from himself.”

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German philosopher, poet, composer, cultural critic, and classical philologist

On Truth and Lie in an Extra-Moral Sense (1873)

“Having now finished the work assigned me, I retire from the great theatre of Action”

George Washington (1732–1799) first President of the United States

Address to Congress resigning his commission (23 December 1783)
1780s
Context: Having now finished the work assigned me, I retire from the great theatre of Action; and bidding an Affectionate farewell to this August body under whose orders I have so long acted, I here offer my commission, and take my leave of all the employments of public life.

“A man is only a mature boy. The theatre widens as he ascends.”

David Jewett Waller, Sr. (1815–1893) Pennsylvanian minister and civic leader

September 20, 1870, as attributed in Preacher, Entrepreneur: Rev. D.J. Waller Sr. by William M. Ballie (2011)

“We need a type of theatre which not only releases the feelings, insights and impulses possible within the particular historical field of human relations in which the action takes place, but employs and encourages those thoughts and feelings which help transform the field itself.”

Bertolt Brecht A Short Organum for the Theatre

¶ 35
A Short Organum for the Theatre (1949)

“Theatre has nothing to do with buildings or other physical constructions. Theatre — or theatricality — is the capacity, this human property which allows man to observe himself in action, in activity.”

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Augusto Boal 14

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