Assignment Details 

Dramatic Imagination: The Performing Arts in society
For this week's show response, I want you to consider the reading/viewings from you did centered on audience response, and the idea that emerged that a shared experience is a fundamentally different experience from one had alone. (Remember my example of watching a YouTube video by yourself vs. showing it to someone else, and how introducing another person into the equation can impact your enjoyment of the artwork for better or worse.)

 
On the Exhale is about, or at least is in response to, school violence. This week's response work is centered on audiences and the experiences they carry in with them and will require you to imagine that you saw the show live, but when responding to a play about problems that disproportionately affect students, be sure to not just speak as an imaginary audience member but the very real student you are, living in the world today. A few years ago, our students were able to see On the Exhale live in Philadelphia in an audience that was comprised mostly of students from the area: how do you think that kind of audience received this show as opposed to an audience made up of a more even sample of non-student subscribers?

Some questions to consider in your response--you do not need to answer all, these are just some to consider:

 
• When were you with her, the narrator? When were you against her/separated from her? This is a monologue, meaning the entire show is just one person talking to the audience. That means that actor has to really work to connect with the audience, and to keep connected to them. How did she do? When did she really command your attention, and when did she lose it?

 • What was it like watching this on video? In general, what has watching theatre on video been like this semester? Do you feel you get the full sense of the show in the recording? If not, what's missing? (Hint: try and talk about the importance of audience if you answer this question.)

 
Essentially, think about the audience response work you did with The Play That Goes Wrong and Fiasco and apply it to On the Exhale. How did that show impact you not just as an individual, but how did it fit in to what you know about how audiences work and react?

 
Write a post of about 200 words describing the interaction between On the Exhale and audience (as you perceive it). Then, respond to two classmates, 75 words each.
If you have any questions, please send me an email.