Final answer:
Theatre allows us to immerse ourselves in the lives of characters and develop empathy for others. It also fosters a sense of community and teaches us how to behave in social situations. Theatre also addresses taboo topics and encourages audiences to consider different perspectives.
Step-by-step explanation:
Theatre allows us to immerse ourselves in a story as it happens live, right in front of our eyes, with real people going through it. It gives us the chance to put ourselves in those people's-the characters'-shoes and almost feel what they feel. The proximity to the action and the shared space makes for an intense experience. Hence, theatre encourages us to develop empathy and to care for other people.
Theatre fosters a sense of community, as well. The audience and performers are all together in the same time and space, witnessing the action and going through a common emotional reaction. While it can be argued that movies achieve the same objective for audiences, movies don't reach the same level of engagement that a good theatrical performance obtains from its audience because the action is more removed from the viewers and only allows a more conscious and superficial connection.
A recent study has proved that students who see a production of a play are able to better understand the story and the plot, significantly improve their vocabulary, and develop greater empathy and tolerance as they understand and value the characters. Theatre teaches us how to behave in social situations by providing examples and the opportunity to use them.
Theatre tackles topics that are otherwise too taboo and unpalatable for polite society to discuss openly. Its live, metaphoric performances of the actions in question intend to pinch the hearts of its audiences, who are suspending their disbelief in a collectively agreed-upon safe space. The pinch, the unsettling feeling, intends to make them consider points of view other than their own- other than the point of view of the dominant narrative. So, while the Western World has enjoyed privileges afforded them by wars won in their favor, theatrical productions even from their own culture have asked them to consider the repercussion of their actions.