Despite low attendance at certain scorching-hot games earlier this year, USC is, no doubt, a football school. Seemingly, the entire student body convenes for tailgates, pregames or fraternity parties on weekends for home games at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. It is emblematic of the touted Trojan school spirit. 

But as the football season winds down, the amped up student body should turn to another manifestation of student aptitude: theater. From School of Dramatic Arts shows to independent student productions, USC students are excelling in arenas outside of sports. The student body as a whole should grow to appreciate it.

First, student theater and other kinds of performances are cheaper than football tickets. While an individual football ticket ranges drastically in price — from $40 to over $100 for more popular games — students can watch improv shows for free, and SDA student tickets range from $5 to $10. 

Clearly, there is something uniquely appealing about the school spirit of football games. You can chat with the people around you, eat overpriced food and engage in some good ol’ Trojan camaraderie. At USC, especially, football games are a rite of passage. The reason people enjoy football is the community and school pride it provides — the same community we are starved for. 

There are benefits to engaging with live theater that are comparable to engaging with live sporting events. Live performance is a communal event. When you see a student performing stand-up in the Stop Gap Theater or a theatrical production in Bing Theatre, you are living that same shared experience with your fellow audience members. 

When a comic makes you laugh, you are laughing with dozens of others. You discuss the play or the set with your friends afterwards: What worked? What didn’t? It’s a similar postgame recap. 

But, to quote the Nicole Kidman AMC advertisement, when you go to the theater, there is that “indescribable feeling we get when the lights begin to dim, and we go somewhere we’ve never been before.” In that way, theater can transport us — whether that be to 17th-century Salem for SDA’s production of “The Crucible,” late-19th century Germany for Musical Theater Repertory’s production of “Spring Awakening” or a fictional 20th-century Broadway show for SDA’s production of “The Drowsy Chaperone.” 

After watching “The Crucible” at Bing Theatre with my friends, we spent hours discussing our thoughts on the stagecraft, the political messaging and the performances, praising the acting choices of people we didn’t even know. The experience was not just about supporting our friends; it was about supporting our peers, celebrating them for their abilities and enjoying their company. 

Even if you don’t know any of the performers personally, it is gratifying to watch fellow USC students excel. While our football program may waver in its success, SDA’s musical theater department is uniformly excellent. The feats of human strength that exist in sporting events exist in Kaufman School of Dance choreography. I saw tremendous athletic ability in the University’s production of “A Chorus Line” in 2022. 

Theater and other kinds of live performance are not nearly as appreciated at USC as athletics. The USC football program, even at its weakest, can fill the Coliseum’s 77,500 seats. The talented students in the drama, dance and music departments deserve the same level of appreciation. 

Instead of just seasonally supporting fellow Trojans in athletic programs, we should be flocking all year long to art shows, dance showcases, stand-up sets and theatrical productions — because we need that, all of us.