Galean Theatre

Galean theatre performances are heavily attended by both Galean citizens and by visitors from other countries. Public support for the arts has fostered a theatre landscape that is highly diverse in style. Large playhouses tend to value variety in their seasons, and will often feature more traditional, folkloric plays alongside more experimental productions. 

While playhouses are popular and prevalent in Galeon, many theatre groups also utilize outdoor spaces to practice their craft and share it with audience members and onlookers. Outdoor amphitheatres are very popular — especially during the summer months, when it is traditional for Galean citizens to attend plays and musicals based on folklore and fantasy tales, many tailored to the location and/or season they are performed in. Most holidays celebrated in Galeon will have corresponding theatre events across the country.

As far as artistic elements go, traditional Galean productions are known for their use of colorful, symbolic props and costumes, with magic often being an integral theme, even in regions where magic use is less common or more integrated with technology. Visual design in folkloric theatre is an area where many Galeans tend to romanticize the past, with many designs and visual cues being used year after year with little renovation. Most people appreciate this, considering the colorful, whimsical nature of Galean theatrical design, as well as the symbolism present in many of the design elements. Even highly experimental designers of folkloric theatre strive to preserve the symbolic nature of the visual elements in these stories. 

Outside of traditional or folkloric Galean theatre, there is a wide variety of styles and philosophies about how theatre should be performed. For example, the late western Galean playwright Meli Mene would insist that her plays always be performed in nature, with no set pieces, props, or costumes — at least, none that could not be found in the immediate vicinity. Actors are usually naked, and there is no established area for the audience, who are encouraged to sit wherever they are able in and around the area. The language and body movements are considered the prime element. The anonymous author of the famed manifesto Salica’s Bounty claimed that all art was the domain of Salica, and that the greatest theatre is that which allows both audience and performer to experience the deepest, truest emotions. Devout Salicans in Galeon have developed a unique style of theatre based off this philosophy, and form theatre companies dedicated to it. Actors undergo rigorous training and ritual to be able to empathize completely with the character they’re playing — to attempt to truly feel the role, and to evoke the same kind of empathy from the audience members. Designers for this uniquely Salican style of theatre take this philosophy to heart, as well, while also taking inspiration from traditional Galean folkloric theatre. Costumes and set pieces are usually highly symbolic of the emotional states of the characters and the mood of the scene, and face and body painting are a key element of this type of theatre.