cultural experience

Cultural Experience
Name
Institution Affiliation

Introduction
The cultural experience attended was a Hamilton performance. The event can be categorized as a musical performance as it conveyed the story of the legendary Alexander Hamilton to the audience using a musical score. It combined music, dancing, dialogue, and acting to recount his life. The musical performance was held on January 17, 2018, at 12 North Eutaw Street, Baltimore, MD 21201. The event started at 8:00 and ended at 10:30 pm.
The Purpose and Scope of the Event
The primary purpose of the Hamilton performance was to narrate the story of Alexander Hamilton, one of the nation’s founding father while blending elements of history and hip-hop. The performance began with the actors summarizing Hamilton’s early life and as an orphan in the Caribbean. Burr refers Hamilton as the son of a whore. This is because he was born out of wedlock (Hamlin and Arliss, 2012). By the age of nineteen, Hamilton becomes interested in the American colonies and seeks advice from Aaron Burr who tells him to talk less and smile more. He later binds with three revolutionists and learns how to lay down his life for his cause. When the revolution begins, Washington asks Hamilton to be his right-hand man as to win the war. Later on, he falls in love with Eliza and weds her. After their first son is born, Hamilton returns to pursue a course in law, and he is later enlisted as one of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention. When Washington is elected as the new president, he offers Hamilton the position of Treasury Secretary and accepts it despite the protests from Eliza.

The protests in the play are evident when she utters “Non-Stop” (Hamlin and Arliss, 2012). In Act two, the performance begins by describing Hamilton’s affair with Maria and his numerous cabinet meetings. Jefferson, Burr, and Madison later confront Hamilton for embezzling government money and admit to it. Years later his son dies in a duel. After the second presidential election, Hamilton endorses Jefferson rather than Burr. Burr loses in the election and calls Hamilton for a duel. Hamilton dies after being struck by Burr’s bullet in the chest.
Regarding the design, the producers of the performance mainly concentrated on the costumes, space, lighting, and sound. They wisely used the space and kept the traditional design of the stage and used a gold coloring to cover the railings thereby creating a beautiful cross-section pattern and a perfect background. Although the costume design used in the performance were modern and fashionable, they seemed considerably appropriate as the actors seemed comfortable. However, using traditional designs would have created a historical and cultural reimaging of Hamilton’s life. The lighting and sound were well designed thereby creating a superb atmosphere throughout the performance. Music was sung and rapped throughout the performance with little dialogue cut off the musical score. For each Act, the lights were different, and the sounds were deliberate, and one could not notice the design blend at the beginning but once realized, an authenticity was added to the performance.
The characters executed their roles efficiently during the performance. They stayed true to the text and casting and remained vigilant to the chronology of the historical events revolving around Alexander Hamilton. They had a definite comprehension of the story such that even part of the audience that was not familiar with Hamilton’s history could easily follow. Although some critics believe that there was a mischaracterization of Hamilton, the actors in the musical performance were versatile and portrayed a believable character of Hamilton through conflict in gesture and voice. They articulated the lines confidently and made the dialogue easy to follow. For instance, Eliza captured the emotions of a woman who had chosen to be loyal and loving by using subtle gestures and intonated dialogue. The actor gave a stellar performance of an original character and used any means to accomplish her goals.
Extended and Supported Critical Comments on the Event
The Hamilton performance was presented in a modern style. It was well-placed, easy to follow, and entertaining. According to Sosulski (2008), the meaning of texts and vocabulary in literature blossoms to full range when students see, listen and interact with actors in flesh and blood on stage. Hence, the performance accomplished its purpose through watching, listening, and interacting with the characters. Mainly on my side, the original texts used in the performance, as well as the environment created through the light and sound designs, imparted an excellent comprehension of Alexander Hamilton’s life and political roles. However, there was little interaction between the actors and the audience. According to Kelman and Rafe (2013), a hybrid performance is created when the gap between the actors and the audience is bridged. This can be achieved by giving the audience an opportunity to participate in the play. Furthermore, a considerably important part of Hamilton’s history was omitted. Monteiro (2017) criticized the performance for simplifying Alexander Hamilton by not showing his complete picture as a revolutionary who valued law and order, an immigrant who did not fully trust his fellow immigrants, and a man who passionately preached politics. Furthermore, the multi-ethnic performance did not depict the racial prejudice that existed during Alexander Hamilton’s era making the performance biased.

References
Hamlin, M. P., & Arliss, G. (2012). Hamilton: A play in four acts.
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Kelman, D., & Rafe, J. (August 01, 2013). Playing on the great stage of fools: Shakespeare anddramaturgic pedagogy. Research in Drama Education, 18, 3, 282-295.
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Monteiro, L. D. (February 01, 2016). Race-conscious casting and the erasure of the black past in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton. Public Historian, 38, 1, 89-98.
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Sosulski, J. (2008) Workshop in German Drama: Using Period Acting Techniques to Enhance Second Language Acquisition. In: Scenario: Journal for Drama and Theatre in Foreignand Second Language Education, 2, 1, 7-16.Bottom of Form