Jeremy Herrin

This semester, I have seen numerous of productions that were enjoyable and at the same time, shared a common theme towards the end of the play which was there ticket towards freedom. The two productions I thought resemble this includes Father Comes Home from the Wars and the Royale. These two productions had a common connection of racism moments when they were trying to reach freedom. The main character in each of the productions had a difficult time stepping out of their comfort zones due to the lack of confidence they had and both of the theaters had the proper lights and props to represent the characters.. Father Comes Home from the Wars is a play written by Suzen- Lori Parks that was performed at the Royal Court Theatre. It is a about a man name Hero who was a slave during the American civil war. His goal was to achieve freedom which was not to be a slave. In the beginning of the production, he was given an opportunity to go with his master to war or stay behind and he decided to go on with his master. Many people in his town wanted him to stay behind, but the old man who Hero looked up to him as a father figure wanted him to go and so he did. By making the decision to go with the master, he experienced stepping out of his comfort zone and achieving the freedom that he wanted. The lighting in the Royal Court Theatre was used to depict suspense. At the beginning when Hero was deciding to go to war or stay home, the lights became brighter and brighter. This resembled…

Blasted Takes place in a posh hotel room in Leeds England and begins by introducing us to an expensive hotel. Sarah Kane’s Blasted creates the setting of a war torn Leeds, England. The play itself is characterized by degradation, suicide and violence. Blasted was Kane’s first play which introduced us to Ian and Cate. Ian is a middle-aged misogynistic, homophobic, racist, tabloid journalist. He is also divorced and has a son named Matthew. Cate is a young mentally challenged, child-like woman…

Every day, we as humans, face tasks that we must come to a decision on whether we are going to do what is morally right, or for the better for the greatest amount of people. Utilitarianism is the action that is best, which procures the greatest happiness for the greatest numbers (100). This may be helpful for short term tasks and requirements, but in the long run always choosing the action that benefits everyone would ultimately hold people back. I will discuss both sides to utilitarianism, how…

Utilitarianism is a consequentialist moral theory, where actions are judged right or wrong solely by virtue of their consequences which was introduced by Jeremy Bentham and later carried out by John Stuart Mill (Kemerling,2011). In regards to the consequences the only importance is the amount of happiness or unhappiness that was produced. In regards to utilitarianism it is believed that everyone counts as one, and no one counts as less or more than another person. And that a person should do…

Sympathy For Living, From The Dead To our knowledge the modern zombie has no consciousness, it’s somewhere in between alive and dead, walking around with a need to feed on human flesh with no parallel to the person the body used to belong to. Mike Carey’s zombie is much different, Nick is essentially still conscious but no longer eats, breaths or sleeps and his existence is basically meaningless. The story revels how this man, a stockbroker with no sense of community or companionship finds…

“The best way to protect yourself is to be as fluid and formless as water.” One of my favorite quotes begins, “Never bet on stability or lasting order. Everything and everyone can change.” This is a simple quote until one actually tries to apply it to life. When betrayal becomes a factor in a relationship, it should be easy to leave said relationship behind. However, leaving someone is always easier said than done when love is involved, despite the fact that the relationship causes more harm…

‘Funniest Security Camera Moments of All Time’ from America’s Funniest Home Videos uses found footage comedies to define our modern day visual culture. Through the opportunity of profit, loss of individualization and disengagement of freedom, we as a visual culture have sacrificed these components of our everyday for a few laughs. Ultimately, due to the panoptic order in entertainment, our desire for visual culture is defined. Much like Foucault’s theory, the panoptic order of America’s…

In certain extracts of John Stuart Mill’s “Utilitarianism,” he argues, “that the only ends of human life are pleasure and the avoidance of pain, so that anything else is bound ultimately to turn in some way on these ends” (Mill 127). Essentially this means that Mill believes that pleasure and the avoidance of pain are the guiding source when it comes to making decisions regarding moral dilemmas. This claim also involves stating that utility is the ultimate source for decision making. Utility is…

What is a moral? A moral is the consideration between right and wrong and the goodness and badness of the human character. For more than two thousand years the question has been about the basis of morality. There are different ways to look at moral including the theory of Utilitarianism. Utilitarianism while it emphasizes the upside of life, it ignores the downsides of life. This way of decision making has a greater impact in life and morals than just the moral choices made in a Utilitarianism…

The topic of the death penalty has been considered a controversial issue for over two hundred years. Numerous public figures, world leaders, and renowned philosophers have made their opinions and theories known; yet, there is no universally accepted answer to whether or not capital punishment is morally and lawfully permissible. Despite hundreds of years of discrepancies, philosophers John Stuart Mill and Immanuel Kant seem to agree with many aspects of the death penalty. Through the…