Reflective Essay Theatre and Culture

I strongly believe that this class helped me understand what theater means expanding my knowledge into much bigger aspect then I thought before. I am majoring in finance, and this class provided me the opportunity to learn about something completely different from my study area. Because of my lack of background in the area of theater performance, I basically thought that theater is something designed for the entertainment of the audience. The performance is done by well-trained actors on the stage for live audience. Only difference is that the audience can interact with the live performers when comparing with the movies. However, as I was completing the assignments in this class, I was able to realize that the theater is a place which can enlighten the audience in a deeper manner. It may address important social events, common or personal problems, challenges in personal and social levels or even successfully persuade the audience on a certain point of view or an issue. Theater can actually make people think rationally and analyze the complex situations or interactions experienced by humans. Therefore, what I have learned in this semester help me achieve the expected learning outcomes to a certain degree.

According to the learning outcome number one given in the syllabus of this class, students who successfully complete this course will be able to think critically through demonstrating interpretive ability and cultural literacy. I am most certainly confident that I gained a significant amount of interpretive abilities because of analyzing various theater performances in this class. As I said before, I thought the live performance is only for the purpose of entertainment. However, it goes far beyond this objective. For example, I learned how the teamwork of a group of actors, directors, art designers, costume designers, scriptwriters, music directors, light operators, theater settings and the state settings blend together to make an exciting life performance with strong messages to the audience and to the society. Interpretive abilities play a key role in analyzing the stage play which is tremendously helpful in educating myself. Also, these interpretive abilities can be applied in other activities of my life either at professional or personal level to become successful. For example, you can see from my performance response one where I say, “one of the themes discussed in the play is different personalities of individuals. The director uses various strategies to describe these personalities. Use of costumes highlights the attitudes, behavior, background of the individual and the way they respond to the pressure of competition. The person with long sleeves and pants wearing glasses emphasizes that he is a serious character and likes to stay isolated. The tight costumes show that his character lacks openness and mostly focuses on what he does. In contrast, the participant with short pants indicates that he is a more dynamic character. He is more focused on the activities contributing to social events”. However, now I feel I gained more critical thinking and interpretive abilities after the completion of this class. How I interpreted the performance as discussed about would be changed to analyzing the human interactions and the social issues. For example, I would not limit the interpretation only to the costumes that describe the personalities. Instead, various personalities are complex and they reflect the social and cultural aspects. The attitudes and behavior of the characters are shaped by their exposure to the various segments of the society. Cultural differences are also reflected in their characters and the way they dress. The term “competition” would be discussed further because competition arises due to various reasons. Also, the intensity of competition felt by individuals depends on how they are prepared for facing the life challenges. It is determined by their ability to access to resources such as quality education, level of opportunity to interact with qualified people and the family and social background. Also, I would further add interpretations based on cultural background of the characters using their personalities.

According to learning outcome 2, students who successfully complete this course will be able to reflect critically upon the human condition. Initially, I did not have an idea about how to discuss the human condition based on the different characters and their performance on the stage. In general, it is actually a challenging task for me because of my area of study and what my future goals are. I am planning to be a financial manager in the future, and therefore am majoring in finance. The position of manager requires the understanding of human behavior and human condition although I thought it would be about achieving the financial goals of the company that I work for. However, managing people are the most important part of being a manager because effectiveness of management determines how the human resource is used efficiently to achieve the goals. The concept of human condition is something I learned from this class which is important part of managing human resource. For example, “All My Sons Discussion Posting”, I wrote, “The stage setting, lighting, directing, design and performance of the actors keep the stage alive and interacting. It successfully discusses how social and political issues prevailing in a society after a war affect a family”. However, this posting lacks the reflection of human condition where I could have discussed more on the suffering of the family members because of the loss of son in the war. Although the parents argue about the issues they face due to changes with time, both Miller and his wife, Kate Miller, are still expecting the return of their beloved son. I would focus more on their feelings to describe human condition because now I have more knowledge on this concept after the completion of this class. In the future, it would help me help would relationship with the employees when I become a manager.

I am a major in financing. I never thought I would gain knowledge from this class that would help me become a better rational thinker. After the completion of this class, I can feel the importance of gaining knowledge beyond my major. I feel that both learning objectives have been achieved and realize where I can apply this knowledge in my field of study. Critical thinking is an important part of a manager. The analysis of stage performance and theater gave me this opportunity to become a better critical thinker. Although it was hard to analyze what actually I see on the stage, assignments given in this class opened the door for various aspects of rational thinking.