Theatre as a Media Form

Traditional Theatre

Movie theatre

Outdoor Theatre

The word "theatre" as derived from the Ancient Greek θέατρον (théatron, “a place for viewing”) and θεάομαι (theáomai, “to see", "to watch", "to observe”).

Theatre is a building where theatrical performance or a motion picture shows can be presented. It usually has rising tiers of seat for the audience. On the past, theatre only known for live performances, like musical, drama, opera, magician, or even speech, where the performers can interact with the audience.

However, nowadays the performance shown on the theatre is not always live, like the room for watching movies on the cinema is also a theatre. Some performance groups perform in non-theatrical spaces. Such performances can take place outside or inside, in a non-traditional performance space, and include street theatre, and site specific theatre. Non-traditional venues can be used to create more immersive or meaningful environments for audiences. They can sometimes be modified more heavily than traditional theatre venues, or can accommodate different kinds of equipment, lighting and sets. 

How theatre communicates the message to audience is, I think, depends on the show shown. If the show is drama or movies or opera, the message is usually very clear, it has direct message or single message that usually all the audiences will understand. The message is the moral from the show itself. But if it’s a dance show, or a magic show, or a musical show, the message is depends on how the audience feels about the show. Different feeling can interpret different message. However, all the show that is shown on the theatre is usually just a media from the producer or the creator to deliver the message to us, except it is a lecture or a speech, then the message is directly delivered by the person itself.

Source

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatre

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