When I first entered the auditorium I was immediately excited to see the play when I was handed the playbook and read through it. If I hadn't sat in the seat that I sat in I don't think I would have had as great as an experience as I did. Right when I walked in, I chose the first open seat that was closest to the stage. That way, I could hear and see the play in the best way possible. My close seat had a major impact on my experience because I genuinely felt as if the characters in the play were speaking to me. It forced me to feel emotionally involved in the play. The size of the auditorium also contributed to my experience by making the overall play feel more powerful and meaningful. When the lights dimmed and the audience quieted, a feeling of excitement came over me as I was eager to play the play.

I attended the performance with a couple of my friends who are also in my Good Life lecture class. Going with a group of people enhanced my time because I was able to discuss the play before and after with people who shared the same experience as I did. It also made me feel more comfortable than I would have if I went and sat by myself. Before the performance, I read the playbook in order to learn a little bit about the play I was going to watch in order to be fully immersed when it began. That helped me further understand who the characters were, and the plot of the play.

Throughout watching the play "The Divine: A Play for Sarah Bernhardt," I found myself constantly connecting it to my own culture in 2017. The play takes place in the early 20th century and shows, in detail, the hardships of child labor and the power of church at this time. The play is told from the point of view of two young men, Talbot and Michaud, which is what opened my eyes to this major connection. These two characters are around the same age as I am and it allowed me to realize how lucky I am to be growing up in the society that I am. I got to see what it was like for the children of that time and how different children in my culture are treated and raised. I watched as factory workers underwent awful working conditions without any say in the early 1900s. I connected to it culturally because how different my childhood was and how lucky I am that times have changed.

The play "The Divine: A Play for Sarah Bernhardt" provides the audience with an opportunity for katharsis. Throughout the play, the audience was able to experience the life of children in the early 1900s. The play did not hold anything back as they wanted to show what it was really like working in a factory under horrible conditions. I analyzed this culture for a couple of hours and was able to connect it to the concept of katharsis which means to "come clean". The child labor that was displayed in the play forced me to feel pride in how far my culture has come in terms of respecting the rights of humans regardless of their age.