Who knew that through theater we would gain an insight on cultures and the world around us?

Theater Appreciation was by far my favorite GL elective. I had the opportunity to learn about theater from all over the world. We discussed the stylistic differences, what type of styles stem from where, and how theater can even serve as a political platform. As part of our class we were encouraged to attend local productions. I attended "Shrek the Musical" by junior actors and "West Side Story" by professional actors. I didn't know how emotional Shrek was until I saw 5-13 year old's perform it.

I learned about realism and surrealism, farce (my favorite style of theater), Japanese Kabuki and Chinese Jing Ju. Thanks to this class I was exposed to a new world of cultures and art. Spanish theater is realistic. The themes are heavy and emulate life and real life events. Chinese theater is often historical and depicted in the costuming. Some forms of Japanese theater use masks with blank expressions and rely on the movements and interactions of the actors to express their emotions.