The Divine: A Divine Experience? By Taylor Gautreau

Upon arriving to the Constance Theater, I was not greeted by the group of friends I was expecting to meet, as I was coming from a another event and just made it to the theater at 7:13. So they seated themselves and I was greeted by a group of people I had never met. The stage and interior of the building was larger than I had expected, and I was excited to see the performance.

Spatial Experience

As I entered the building, the first thing to catch my eye was the stage. The beds were staggered in such a way to create an illusion of the stages size. As the performance went on, the props were multifunctional, as the beds doubled as sewing machines. I was lucky and had a seat in the middle of the row I was sitting, but I was further back in the theater. I also noticed this theater is much more compact than the theater by the Harn museum, which I believe allowed for a more intimate experience with the cast as they interacted with the audience. All of these factors contribute to the overall experience and naturally the Good Life- the atmosphere and the people around you.

Social Experience

I was originally planning on attending the performance with my boyfriend and one of his friends. But they were concerned about keeping their seats as I got there close to the time they were closing the doors, so I sat with strangers. To get ready I put on some semi-formal clothes and did the recommended reading prior to attending. Shared experiences allow us to interact with each other discuss the important things in our lives.

Cultural and Intellectual Experience

There were connections made between the improper treatment of the rich and the poor, hypocrisy, unlawful working conditions, women's rights and advancements, and religious injustices. I had some knowledge of this time period and these issues prior to this performance, but didn't know the depth. I can't say that I can relate to the subject matter in the play to a great extent, I have experienced injustices before whether it be through discrimination or in a work place.

Emotional Experience

The play offers an opportunity to "come clean" by presenting a series of events and societal issues that were emotionally pressing and displayed the "dark" faces of a town/society that we don't necessarily like to talk about. Through confronting them face on, and reflecting on it by comparing it to todays society, we can recognize that we have the same issues present and still unfortunately happening. This play did open my eyes to some of the discrepancies in religion, that I could be unfamiliar with, and that I would hope are either resolved today, or people are currently working to alleviate.

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