Amateur Theatre is common in most urban centers; notably, it is staged in summer schools (usually organised by a professional practitioner, such as a director) and in formal amateur companies.  Amateur theatre is a convenient way for lay people to gain acting and stage experience, for pleasure and amusement.

Other examples of amateur theatre are school Christmas plays, low-budget plays, and musicals staged in local venues in much of the Western World.

Well, I'd say it is for the benefit of the community.

During the Colonial & Revolutionary Wars there were amateur theatricals and the Mormons founded the Deseret Theatre in 1850.  In 1874 the Aurora Drama Guild in Illinois and the Concord Players in Mass. (by Louisa May Alcott) were founded.  In 1877 the Footlight Club was founded in Jamaica Plain, MA and has been declared by AACT (American Association of Community Theatre) to be the oldest continuously producing community theatre in the United States.  The movement has been called "art theatre", "little theatre", "amateur theatre", "tributary theatre".  The term "community theatre" was coined by Louise Burleigh in 1917.  The smaller size of performing spaces led to the name "little theatre".  The 1911 tour of the Irish Players had the greatest impact on the United States and seemed to be the catalyst that caused countless dramatic groups to spring up all across the country as a protest against commercial drama.  Several years before that tour, little theatres in Wisconsin & Illionois were begun and in North Dakota, pioneer people were developing scripts reflecting life experiences.  Thomas Dickinson launched the Wisconsin Dramatic Society and evolved into the Wisconsin Idea Theatre.  In New York City, several "non-commercial" groups were founded in 1915: The Provincetown Players (which nurtured Eugene O'Neill), The Washington Square Players (which evolved into the Theatre Guild and the Neighborhood Playhouse (Sandy Meisner Technique) still thriving as a theatre training school.  Many of the original "little or amateur" theatres evolved into professional companies (e.g. the Passadena Playhouse, The Pittsburg Playhouse and the Cleveland Playhouse).  The next two decades after WWI there were over 100 community theatres founded.  A burst of new activity after WWII saw about 3,500 by 1959 producing on a continuous basis.  By 1962 the Stanford Research Institute estimated there were 18,000 groups operating of which 3,000 were doing drama at "acceptable" standards and 200 were producing drama at more or less a professional level.  In 1975 the ACTA (American Community Theatre Association) estimated there were 15,000 groups.  Current estimates are between 7-8,000 theatres and the AACT has over 6,300 on their mailing list.

With a small state population, of just over 2 million, athough we cover 1/3 of Australia. Of which at least 2/3 of our State populatin, is concitrated here in Perth Metro,Theatre in general is some what thin on the ground.

The difference is: