Theatre

During the past hundred years, the radio, the cinema, TV and now Internet have made great changes in the entertainment with which people fill their free time. More than a hundred years ago people knew how to entertain themselves much better than they do now. When a group of people gathered together, they talked, played cards or other games, read aloud to each other, or went out shooting, or walking together. Summer picnics were also a great hit those days. Most of people could sing or play a musical instrument, so at a party the guests entertained each other. Conversation was an art, amusing conversation could keep people happy for hours.
As for games, such as football, tennis, people used to play them more often than they do now. Most of them didn’t play very well, but they could amuse themselves and their friends. Nowadays we are entertained by professionals. There appeared even such phenomena as show industry and professional sport. With the help of electronic Mass Media they are ruling in modern society. I’m not an exclusion and also pay my tribute to them. So choosing among theatre, cinema and TV, I’ll certainly choose Theatre.
Theatre is the ancient but ever - youthful parent of all entertainment in dramatic form. It has existed on and off for two-and-a-half thousand years because there is something special to itself that it offers us. But what is it that is special about the theatre? A famous playwright Priestly compares theatre with the restaurant. In a very good restaurant we have a dinner that is specially cooked for us; in a canteen we are merely served with standard portions of a standard meal. And this is the difference between the living Theatre and the mass entertainment of films, radio and television. In the theatre the play is specially cooked for us.
The production never takes its final shape, until it has an audience. The actors are not playing to microphones and cameras but to warmly responsive fellow-creatures. And they are never giving exactly the same performance. If the audience tends to be heavy, unresponsive – the company slightly sharpens and heightens its performance to bring the audience to life, and vice versa, if the audience is too enthusiastic. One more thing, when we see a play we form part of an audience. This is important, because we behave differently when we are part of audience. If the play is funny, we laugh a great deal more that we should if we were by ourselves. If it is pathetic we are more deeply moved just because a lot of other people are being moved too. We have to share the feelings of a great many other people to enjoy a play properly, and this in itself is a good thing, particularly this days when too many people usually living in large cities feel cut off, and separate.
To enjoy the theatre we have to join it. Today theatre is at some kind of crisis. The houses are alarmingly empty. Many other forms of entertainment have superseded theatre. There are many who do not care whether theatre lives or dies. This is causing anxiety. The main reason for that is that our cultural level is painfully low. Now we can see the degradation of people’s spiritual and cultural standards as a whole, the erosion of values and ideals. And culture is the health of a nation, a way of improving its genetic fund. It’s impossible to survive without culture. Theatre is the means of the disseminating culture. School is responsible for awakening a child’s interest to theatre, it’ necessary to instil into people, into their consciousness the love to the theatre. I do believe that the situation will change to the better. Theatre will never die. For some people it died long ago, - for people who are poorly developed emotionally, they simply do not understand the Theatre, as they do not understand painting, serious music. But theatre is eternal. The atmosphere in theatre is solemn. It’s the magical place where man meets his image, where people are taught to appreciate the beauty, to hate the evil, ugliness, where feelings are stirred, where our souls and mind are elevated. It is the enduring home of dramatic experience, which is surely one of the most searching, rewarding, enchanting of our many different kinds of experience.
There are two theatres in Grodno. The Puppet theatre and Drama Theatre. The Grodno Drama Theatre was found in 1947 and opened its doors on 20th October 1947. The first play at the stage of this theatre was the play of Obstrovsky “Truth is good, but happiness is better”. In 1984 the Grodno Drama Theatre moved into a new building, which is well known, to every citizen of our town. It is of modern architecture and you can easy got lost there. Especially in the main entrance. There are two halls in the theatre. A large hall and the small one. The large hall can seat about 700 people. The smoker contains about 200 of audience. At the first nights of early performances audience usually celebrate actors with a stormy applods and gives flowers to the actors. I think that this theatre will survive throw years and will be one of the best theatres not only in Belarus but in Europe as well. I would like my dream come true.
There is an actor in the history of theatre and cinema whose name is well known for everybody. It is Andrey Mironov. He got to be known thanks to his numerous film roles. I believe, everybody remembers his brilliant performances in “Twelve Chairs”, “A Diamond Arm”, “Adventures of Italians in Russia” and many other unforgettable comedies. He is one of the most brilliant comic actors of our days. His artistic palette is unbelievably rich. Though his humour is often sad, sometimes sarcastic, it left nobody indifferent. Spectators began to smile from the first minute Andrey appeared in the screen. The name of Mironov in the caption of a film was a guarantee of good entertainment a promise of high skill and good taste less known was Mironov a dramatic actor. He was a bright star in the constellation of popular dramatic actors who played in the Moscow Theatre of Comedy in those days. His repertoire in the theatre was richer and wore various than in films where directors exploited his gift of a comic only. His Figaro in “The Barber of Seville” is the best simple of his talent, his ability to create both comic and tragic characters. His sense of display, an ability to identify with a role, artistic imagination, intellectual and spiritual strength his exquisite sense of humour made Andrey Mironov a favourite of millions of spectators.
Theatre unites actors and spectators, moves our feelings, establishes close contacts between people, creates the atmosphere for thinking. Theatre makes it possible to establish close contacts between actor and spectators, to create intellectual atmosphere, to distinguish between the good and the bad, to understand and enjoy the beauty.

Books

A book is one of the greatest wonders of world. Why are so many people fond of reading? The world of books is full of wonders. Together with the characters of books you can find yourself in different and countries, have a lot of adventures. The book is a faithful friend. They form our values and characters. We try to look like the characters of your favourite books: to be brave, honest, not to be silly and greedy, to be real friends. We enjoyed the beauty and wisdom of fairy-tales and fables when we were babies and Granny read them. They taught us to be kind, clever, hardworking, to understand other people and help them. They teach us to understand the beauty of nature, take care of it, to love our homeland. Books have been with us since childhood. Who hasn’t read «Alice in the wonderland», «Mowgli»? Who hasn’t travelled with Marry Poppins to her imaginary world? Who hasn’t imagined himself to be Robinson Crusoe on the deserted island? I have read a lot of interesting books, but my favourite book is «The adventures of Tom Sawyer» by Mark Twain. This well-known book is popular with the children all over the world. The main character of the book is Tom Sawyer, who lived in a small town on the Mississippi River. He was a boy with a wild imagination. He and his friends often dreamed of different adventures. Tom was naughty, kind and brave. Besides he was noble. I like this boy because he teaches us to be true friends. If you are not fond of reading, take a book to your liking or borrow it from the library and read it. Books are worth reading. Readly, they are our good friends.