Sometimes with the arts, it’s a matter of not making assumptions. Recently a friend made an assumption because her husband wouldn’t go to an arts event, no-one else’s husband would either. There’s always a danger and a problem with making blanket assumptions about people.
Opportunity and trying new things can make the change. Mick found when he was willing to try live theatre, he liked it. He liked how it’s a different medium to movies and how actors, directors and stage technicians get around the scenery changes required. He also liked the immediacy of live theatre. But he wouldn’t have known if I’d never have suggested it and he hadn’t been willing to try it.
Many of the small local theatre groups are very professional in outlook and produce excellent work. When younger we used to go to a number of such productions. It was an inexpensive night out for us, since money was often tight. As our son got a little older we often took him along. He was only 8 or 9 but fascinated by live theatre. Of course in those days it was much easier to decide if a play was okay for a young person to see. These days given the language in some plays, it’s more of a dodgy proposition. But it’s still worth doing as long as you can find out enough about suitability of the play beforehand.
Of course this sort of outing is easier if you only have one child, as we did at the time. I imagine you’d have to rethink, if you had two or more little ones.
Apart from often being inexpensive nights out, what are benefits from sharing the arts with your spouse?
It helps you learn more about them and their tastes. You can talk about the play, poetry reading, or art exhibition afterwards so it gives another area of communication. Sometimes they will surprise you by the things they like or absolutely hate and that’s also interesting to talk about. It gives insights into them and sometimes taps back into other memories and childhood experiences. It’s easier when decorating a home to have some idea of what type of thing your spouse likes or dislikes and why.
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