Politics isn't called theater because politicians are puppe…

Politics isn't called theater because politicians are puppets, which they are, but because it gives us both villains and heroes.
And a fight between them.
The only difference between politics and theater is that in a play the villains and heroes are identified by everyone the same way, while in politics half of the people identify the one as the hero which the other half identifies as the villain - and vice versa.
This is largely because unlike theater, politics just keeps going. It's a neverending story and therefore the fight needs to keep going too, with each side periodically winning and losing.
Meanwhile, the agenda of the rulers just keeps getting implemented.