04/03/2026
"[Community theatre] at its purest is about exploring what it is to be human...it can give people a space to question and learn, to ask why."
Thank you John for your very thoughtful insights into what community theatre participation can offer people.
Thank you John for sharing your experience of being part of local performing groups and the meaningful impact it’s had on your life. We are privileged to share an excerpt from Johns letter of support:
Looking back, I now see how theatre was doing more than just entertaining — it was a form of survival. And that’s the thing about great art: it doesn’t just reflect life; it gives it shape.
You see, theatre at its purest is about exploring what it is to be human. It attempts to explore and explain humanity — who we are, why we do what we do. It is trying to make sense of existence. So it was through my experiences in community theatre that I was trying to make sense of the one thing I really didn’t understand — and that was me.
So more than all the other important things that community theatre and the arts bring to a community, it can also have very real and very important mental health benefits. It can give people a space to question and learn, to ask why.
Just as we rightly acknowledge the importance of the social aspects of sport, we need to acknowledge the importance of the arts just as much. I learned so many skills with all the groups I worked with in Sunraysia — and I learned so much about myself. There are not many things in this world that allow you to do both of those things.
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