5 Ways Theatre and Sports Collide

Written by Ashleigh Gardner

February 16, 2017

Rarely do theatre people and sports fans meet in the same place…unless it’s the DMV. The theatre community is highly aware of the value that’s placed on the sports industry, particularly when it comes to school programs and ticket sales. But why leave theatre in the dust when it’s so much like football? Baseball? Basketball? We’ve got 5 reasons why theatre is just as nail-biting as an NFL playoff game.

5. Drama, conflict, comedy.

Sports, just like theatre, has copious amounts of drama, conflict, and comedy. A penalty is given after a player pulls the facemask of the other team’s quarterback. The star point guard’s knee gives out. The baseball player with a penchant for Beyonce does the moves to “Single Ladies” on third base. Hamilton’s story shares all these elements with a sports broadcast or live game, so why not trade that Coca-Cola for a cast album, or vice versa?

4. Power play.

The struggle for power is real in sports and theatre. In sports, batting, throwing, and kicking around a ball is a grab for power. If your team has the ball — they’ve got the world in their hands. In theatre, the power play happens onstage between characters and situations, and the way it plays out depends on their willingness to sacrifice something or endure a long road ahead. That 50 yard dash looks a lot more similar to Hamlet’s race for the throne, doesn’t it?

3. Community event.

When a bunch of fans rally around their favorite team, it’s a lot like patrons gathering to see the latest new play by the nation’s leading playwright: they’re there together for the same reason. They’re excited for the same reason. And even though warring factions in sport may not like to speak to each other, they value the importance of the game the same way that theatre-goers value the importance of the performance they’re about to see.

2. Respite from the everyday.

Everybody gets bogged down by work, school, and life in general, so it’s no wonder theatre people and sports people alike gravitate toward their favorite hobby for some stress relief. Sports provide fans with a focus that is strategic and energized, and theatre gives patrons a source of creative catharsis and spectacle.

1. Team effort.

It’s no secret that it takes a village to put on a show, and sports teams have an entire staff behind them that supports every facet of the team’s needs: physical therapists, waterboys, strategists. In theatre, we’ve got stage managers, costume runners, rigging stage hands, and sound and light board operators behind the scenes. And at the end of the day, we’re all family.

So the next time somebody says, “Theatre is boring!” cite the reasons above, and let them know why it’s just as valuable as sports!

Below is a clip from the Reduced Shakespeare Company’s The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) — Shakespeare’s histories depicted as a football game.





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Ashleigh Gardner received her AA in Theatre/Drama/Dramatic Arts from Valencia College and her Bachelors Degree in English Literature and Masters Degree in Literary, Cultural, and Textual Studies from the University of Central Florida. She is a playwright, an actor, and PerformerStuff.com’s Editor.