The Divine: A Play for Sarah Bernhardt Brianna buzard

Entering the building I got a sense of how this theater embraced all different kinds of art. There were sculptures, photos, paintings, and even art hanging from the ceiling. Having this kind of art in the theater made my experience better than if it would have been if the theater lobby had been decorated different. It helped me to get into the mood of going to the theater and overall completed my experience. When I walked into the auditorium the stage gave me a sense of a cold environment and I knew that the play would have some type of dark side in it. This is because the stage had "snow" falling on it and started out in a room with six different beds, which if you ask anyone is not the best scenario.Since the auditorium was on the smaller side it felt as if I, as part of the audience, was really close to the play and involved. My seat was on the side of the auditorium in the middle so I did not get to experience it in the same way as the people who were in the front middle; however, overall this did not bother me as much because of how small the auditorium was. When the lights dimmed and the audience quieted it felt as if I was being drawn into a wintery, eerie setting. This is because of the set of the stage and the darkness of the auditorium. Overall, my experience with the setting of the play, the stage, and my seat led to an overall good experience of the show. The role of place and setting is extremely important to the good life because a setting sets the mood for what is going to happen and foreshadows whether the experience is going to be good or bad.

To get ready for the play, I made plans with friends in other classes to attend together. I decided to attend the play with two of my friends. We decided to meet up before the play for dinner and go over to the Constans theater together. This was fun because it allowed me to share my thoughts on the play with other people and also allowed me to hear other peoples opinions on the play. Hearing other peoples thoughts enhanced my experience because it gave me more than one perspective of the topics brought up in the play. Also, going to the play with others allowed me to have more fun than if i would have gone by myself because I was able to have people to laugh with and be shocked with and just overall share the experience with them. Sharing experiences with others is one of the most important in having a good life because if you don't share experiences with others than you will not get a full view on what the good life is. You would only have one perspective which does not enable you to have a good life.

This play was set in Quebec City in the past which is a completely different time and place that I am used to. Before this play I did not know anything about what Quebec City was like now, let alone in the past. The central issue in this play was abuse within the church and people of poverty. This our subjects that I did not necessarily know a lot about so the play has opened my mind to such subjects. It has shown me that not everything is as it seems and that people also do things for different reasons and actions are not always clear. I was shown this when I realized the real reason Talbot was at the Seminary and how his reasons for being there were different than Michaud's. Also, I was shown how people who have been in the same situation handle things differently. Both Talbot and the Brother went through the same abuse and they originally wanted to do different things about it. The Brother didn't tell and gave his life to God, but Talbot originally wanted to tell the police. Another issue in the play was poverty. This issue helped to show me how bad things were for people of poverty of that time and what they all had to go through in order to survive. The issue of abuse does not necessarily apply to me personally but I know abuse happens around campus all of the time.

This play gives us an opportunity for Katharsis by showing us how other people come clean and forgive. In the play we see how the Brother forgave the person who abused him. We also see how Michaud was trying to use his play and his writing as an opportunity for Kartharsis. He wanted to tell the world the story of poverty and tell what happened to Talbot. Also, the minister came clean by signing a letter of admittance to abusing young kids. We have an opportunity for Karthasis by following the examples that were set for us in the play. If we were to have something that we have been hiding that we had done wrong we could take the example of the minister. If we were done wrong to, we could take the example of the Brother and forgive and move on to something better. Or we could take on the role of Michaud and use writing or any other form of expression as a way to put our feelings and things that we have witnessed happen out there. I personally will take this play as a lesson in coming clean and forgiving by following the examples of all the characters in the play because I believe that they all provide valid points and I can learn a lot from all of them.

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