Is theatre out of date?

In my most humble opinion, theatre is already a thing of the past. Let us look at how many decent theatres are there in this country. I am an Ipoh boy. As far as I know, there are no theatres in Ipoh. One of the main reason is that investors know that a theatre play will not appeal to young people. This lead to the lack of opportunity for theatre fans to watch plays. Therefore the interest for theatre in them will sooner or later decay.
The emergence of cinemas is the main reason that makes theatre unpopular among the public. With the number of cinemas increasing by the year, most youngsters would not even know the definition of a theatre. Besides cinemas being the cause of theatres becoming outdated, there is very little publicity regarding plays that are being shown in theatre. Lets take a blockbuster film for example, “The Dark Knight”. The advertisements and trailers of this film made the film a household name. Movie goers are informed about the date of release and cast months before its premier. Sadly, theatre plays do not enjoy such exposure. Without sufficient information about the play, people tend to look pass it. As time goes by, everyone would be a fan of cinema thus making theatre obsolete.
Another plausible reason is that the society nowadays crave for special effects in movies. Theatre plays offer little or no special effect. This factor leads to the lack of interest by movie goers to give theatrical play a chance.
In order for theatre to regain its former glory as being the main form of entertainment, playwrights and those concern should take measures by writing appealing plays and making sure the promotion for it is enough for the public to be aware of it.

How similar or different is theatre from cinema?

There are a few similarities between theatre and cinema. Theatre and cinema both serve to entertain its audiences. Depends on the taste of a particular individual, the plays/movies being played at theatres and cinema are remedies for boredom. These two areas are also places for people to socialize. The gathering of people of the same interest creates much opportunity for individuals to exchange opinions, thoughts and therefore make new friends. The movies and plays that are shown in cinema and theatre share some similarities as well. They both have a cast of actors and actresses. They act according to the script and directors wishes.
What separates theatre from cinema is in a theatre, the play is performed live. In contrast to theatre plays, the movies that are shown in cinemas are produced and edited before making their appearance at the silver screen. Some theatre also has strict rules regarding dress code and punctuality. Unlike cinemas, as long as you can afford the ticket, there are no dress codes or rules such as “No admittance after play starts”. Movies shown in cinema are on a daily basis. Everyday, there will be some movie that is going to be played on the silver screen. On the other hand, plays in theatre are not shown that often.
These are some of the similarities and differences that I could come up with. As time allows me to get more familiar with theatre, I might be able to list down even more similarities and differences.