These people are not actors

Steve Paikin convenes a half dozen newish MPs and MPPs to discuss life in politics. Theatre is the most over-used word therein. 

Theatre involves actors publicly portraying characters that are, at least in theory, entirely divorced from their actual selves. Question Period involves politicians standing in public and speaking loudly. Often they may present exaggerated versions of themselves, but mostly, I would argue, they show no more than who they are. It flatters the individuals involved, diminishes the usefulness of the conflict, and excuses too much of the lesser behaviour to suggest such stuff has anything to do with Laurence Olivier.