Spatial Experience

When I first entered the auditorium I was one of the first people in the theatre. I was excited about this because I thought I would get to choose whichever seat I wanted and I would be able to sit in the front middle in one of the best seats. Unfortunately, the ushers decide where you seat and force you to fill in specific roles so I was stuck in the seats all the way to the front. I think that my seat location wasn't the worst, but I certainly expected better being one of the first people at the play. My seat was in the front so I was able to see and hear all of the action going on and it was much harder to be distracted by other people as everyone was behind me. The only problem I experienced was that anytime something happened on stage right I was unable to really see what was going on and at times the actors walked through the seats and would walk behind me which made it difficult to see what was going on there too. When the lights dimmed and the audience quieted I felt excited for the play to begin and for me to see the play. I don't think the size of the audience really contributed or affected my experience at all, nobody was disruptive and I was seated in the front so I could not see anyone on their cell phones or doing anything they should not be. Place has a big role in the Good Life because if you are not in the proper place and setting you will not achieve your version of the Good Life.

Social Experience

I attended the play with one of my friends that is also in my good life class. We didn't do anything to get ready for the play in particular, we just made sure we knew what we needed pictures of for the spark story. Attending with a friend enhanced my experience because it allowed me to feel more comfortable in the theatre and I was able to live with her at jokes made during the play. Shared experiences are important in the Good Life because it is hard to enjoy life by yourself. Shared experiences also allow you to make inside jokes and really connect with your friends and loved ones.

Cultural and Intellectual Experience

This play was written in the setting of the early 1900s and addressed the topic of the churches and the children working in the factories. The central issue addressed in the play was the actions and influence that the church has on society. This is shown through the various examples of the church telling Sarah Berndhart not to perform the play, telling Talbot not to tell the police or anyone about what the priest did to him, and even allowing the factories to use children to help produce goods for a long time. The play talks about the effects of going against the church and not doing as they were told, such as when the priest threatened Talbot with getting blamed for stealing the silverware when he was going to tell the police what actually happened. Before attending I was aware that the church had a big influence and some crimes committed by the priests were hidden and locked away. I don't believe that the performance changed any of my views about the issues raised. For example, I had and still have believed that children should be employed and allowed to work in factories at all, especially for a small amount of money per day. I'm not religious myself, but I can relate to the issue of benefitting from child labor. The factory owner criticized the priest in the play for using many different products that were produced by child labor. I can relate to this issue because many of the clothes and products that me and many others purchase and wear today are made from children working in factories. I relate to the issue of the priest in this scene because I am also benefitting off of child labor.

Emotional Experience

This play provides the audience with an opportunity for catharsis by showing a prime example of it in the play with Talbot. In this play Talbot and Michaud are both provided with opportunities to come clean and reveal everything bad that has happened. In the end Talbot chooses to ignore this idea of coming clean, but Michaud decides it is better to come clean and reveal the truth of what has happened. This play provides the audience with examples of coming clean in all sorts of bad situations and even provides the audience with many different ways they can come clean. This play may motivate some people that are scared or nervous to come clean and reveal what happened to them and how they feel.