Introduction: I haven't really been to a play except for when I was in middle school and it was definitely a different experience.
Spacial Experience: As I was walking into the theater, I was feeling kind of on the fence about going to the play because I never really watch plays ever. I'm more of a movie person. My seats weren't the worst because they were relatively close to the stage but they were pretty much on the far right of the theater. Overall I enjoyed the location because the stage was in my full view and when the actors came off stage they were right in front of my seats while preforming . When the lights went out to begin the play it settled the mood in the theater, everyone got quiet waiting to see what was about to happen. It made me feel curious because I had no idea what this play was going to be about and I was just ready to find out what was going to happen. The size of the theater was pretty big, but it was most likely due to the fact that there wasn't a lot of people there. The role of place in the good life can be important as it can influence the way a person feels based on the mood that the setting gives off.
Social Experience: I watched the play with my friends Erik and Kassidy. Before the play we went to the Hub to eat some Chick-fil-A. Then we decided we should head to the theater to take our pictures for our story. Attending the play with friends made it a lot more comfortable for me. I wouldn't have enjoyed the play as much if I went and watched the play alone. They also remind me of the talk back portion of the play. We just sat through it and didn't say anything, we were listening to what they had to say in regards to the play and the actors. Shared experiences contribute to the good life because, even though having a unique experience is good, it allows us to reflect with each other what happened and be able to get a fresh perspective on the experience.
Cultural and Intellectual Experience: The play helps me see how far our culture has come in regards to the way we treat children. For example children working, they're only allowed to work so many hours a week and aren't very young when they start working either, most of them being 16 when they initially start working. I feel like the central theme would be about the importance of the arts and addressing social problems that the society at the time was experiencing, like child labor and abuse. Before the play I knew a bit about the children working ridiculous hours in factories from my US History class. The performance didn't really change my perspective because I know child labor laws are important and are there to protect children, it more expanded my current views on the situation. I couldn't relate to the situations in the play.
Emotional Experience: The play allows us to have katharsis for issues like the child abuse that went on with the church. It definitely made me feel uncomfortable because I don't think about that stuff very often and the play got kind of dark on the subject. It caused the audience to experience how the characters in the play were feeling. It helps us as a society come clean and acknowledge that these kind of things happen and there should be support for those victims and an effort to try and stop child abuse.