Paper Example on Theater as a Medium for Change: Amy Fritsche's Insight

Introduction

In theater as a medium of change, Amy Fritsche gives us an insight into her view and experience on the power that theater has to influence society's views on certain topics. She talks of how she loved her comfort zone and imagining that everything was okay, mostly when everything was moving sideways(Amy Fritsche, 2017). Fritsche engages her audience with the details of why she believes society today should somewhat embrace that theater has the power to educate and even cause unrest among people. She dives into how various plays she has come across have had an impact on how people view and respond to issues (Amy Fritsche, 2017). She highlights how theater has led to uprisings through various poets writing pieces that either mock the government or the general public's reactions to matters that affect them.

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Amy clarifies that she is the type of person who will influence a university's board to pass a play to be included in their study. I agree with the speaker on this thought, as I see this a lot in today's society. People tend to involve themselves a lot in protests and angry signing of petitions to their representatives and leaders when they notice that some things are not going as they intend them to be (Amy Fritsche, 2017). This may be an effective way of making the responsible people bow to pressure and respond to what is being advocated. However, people tend to forget that the problems at times need to be understood deeper by the people and the community at large.

Importance of theater as a source of change

Association to the root level- theater associate with the people to the root level and creates performances based on what the audience experience. By engaging with the thoughts and emotions of their audiences, they are more likely to affect change.

Making the invisible seem visible

Theater brings to light how the topmost individual's actions will affect most of the people below him because they follow him. When a leader or a top-ranked person utters hate words against some people, his followers will tend to follow his actions.

Understanding problems at a human level

The concepts of social change are often vague, and theater can be used to come up with the uncorrupted government, better policies, and an almost perfect society that people may follow.

The relevance of Shakespeare's works to people and society today

Yes, I think Shakespeare's work remains relevant today to both people and society. Shakespeare's work always touched on the everyday experience of people as they existed. Some of the themes he addressed were rioting of people like in "Carialenous" where people rioted due to high prices (Walker Books, 2016). This is visible in London in Shakespeare's time. In "Romeo and Juliet," Shakespeare address the love of two people that are not commissioned by their parents just as it is in today's society.

Notable themes from Shakespeare's As You Like It and Macbeth

The single direction of life

Shakespeare's short monologues talk of how man is headed in one direction as soon as they get into this world. People are born, yearn to achieve their goals in life, and eventually die(Shakespeare's Globe, 2020). Mans's ultimate journey in this world is towards their grave.

Vanity of possessions

Shakespeare points out to us how on scrutiny that the life we live in this world has no meaning at all. He highlights an older man who is weak and has no one after he has become terrible and weak(Shakespeare's Globe, 2019). His features have grown from strong to weak and terrible, just overlooking death.

Temporary things

The things in this world are temporary, ranging from one's stay in the world from birth since they eventually have to die. The successes that people pursue in this world end up being unnecessary in the future when they get old(Shakespeare's Globe, 2020). The love that someone has and offers to their lover fades over time.

Questions

1. Did the existence of theatre lead to the establishment of the society as we know it?
2. Has the theater eased on playing its role in society today?

References

Thambu, N., & Rahman, M. H. A. (2017). Forum Theatre as a behavior change strategy: Qualitative findings from Moral Education class. SEARCH: The Journal of the South East Asia Research Centre for Communications and Humanities, 9(1), 25-46.https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Nadarajan_Thambu/publication/316642527_

Walker Books. (2016, March 9). What Is So Special About Shakespeare? [Video]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/OyAkpZHnDpIAmy Fritsche. (2017, March 7). Theater as a medium of Social Change [Video]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/Eu2qkf3f6bE

Shakespeare's Globe. (2019, September 27). All the world is a stage | As You Like It [Video]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/NbIOZZy54EMShakespeare's Globe. (2020, April 28). Out, out, brief candle: Act V, scene 5 | Macbeth | Shakespeare's Globe [Video]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/fzkIFRSwOPQ