Go to your local show

http://www.environmentmagazine.org/Bytes%20of%20Note/Bytes-so08.html
http://www.mctinc.org/About_MCT/Mission_Statement
http://www.aact.org/aact/ct.html

I changed my paper to arguing the importance of community theatre in Missoula.

Clayton Improta

    I don’t think I would’ve gotten where I am today without theatre. Theatre has been a tool for me to understand history, philosophy and even politics. Live theatre can reach an audience far better than a simple television set. The theatre represents an environment where it is more comfortable and ok to talk about serious issues. The theatre can also encourage children to be more confident and participate better in group activities. Common American theatre at it’s most basic is community oriented. A theatre company can do a lot for the community around it especially when it directly involves it.

    I come from Missoula, Mt and the first experiences I had in theatre were with the nationally known Missoula Childrens Theatre a.k.a. MCT. MCT works with the public school system and puts on a play performance, casting children in the school. In one week the students put together and perform classic childrens tales adapted for stage. I remember being uncontrollably excited in my role as a mouse in the pied piper.
    Most importantly it built my confidence and love of theatre. I was thrilled by the idea of a theatre production. To take a script, costumes, lights, stage and actors and to turn it into a product was an exciting concept. I made friends with other students who enjoyed theatre and branched out to auditioning, often unsuccessfully, for the larger scale productions. I was very young at the time but very inspired.
    Theatre has a way of making us as humans put down the characters we create in our daily lives and understand another character, often one that we have created. Theatre is after all an art form and it is important to keep art in our society to keep us creative and imaginative as a people. The most common way the average person will see a theatrical production will not be broadway or a regional theatre or even a college or school production. Most people will see a community theatre production where almost everything is donated and the actors are volunteers. It is important that we keep community theatre alive to keep this art form alive in our society.