Can I have some salt with that imagination?

Albert Einstein

“I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.”
― Albert Einstein
What’s lacking in the theatre?  Seriously, I would love to know what your answer is to that question.  For me there are three big puzzle pieces that seem to be missing in much of what I see in educational and professional theatre.  The first is an understanding of story.  What the story is, the plot, themes, the unity of ideas.  The second is specificity.  The nooks and crannies, the crevasses of the story, of the characters.  And finally use of the imagination.
Neil Gaiman

“Everybody has a secret world inside of them. All of the people of the world, I mean everybody. No matter how dull and boring they are on the outside, inside them they’ve all got unimaginable, magnificent, wonderful, stupid, amazing worlds. Not just one world. Hundreds of them. Thousands maybe.”
― Neil GaimanThe Sandman, Vol. 5: A Game of You
I absolutely believe that.  Until the artist believes that they have these worlds, these people, these possibilities inside them, they won’t be able to tell stories in any full, dynamic, specific and imaginative way.  How do we develop our imaginations?  We have to spend time there.  We have to dream, read, listen, explore, care, investigate fearlessly.  And you know what?  It’s fun.  It makes life richer, more colorful and always interesting.
Determine to be an imaginative artist.  Learn how to tell a story.  And get your hands dirty.
*quotes from Goodreads.com