Women never stepped foot or acted on the stage until the 17th Century, during England’s Restoration Period (though women had begun acting on French and Spanish stages earlier than that).  A large part of that is due to the public impression acting had.  Regardless of the gender, acting was often seen as an immoral profession for people.  Actors were often categorized as thieves, prostitutes or other immoral and disreputable members of society.  Unless an actor had achieved “star” status as an actor, he would often be considered low class.  Women, during many of these times, were expected to be wives and mothers – definitely not actresses.  If actresses were to be considered respectable, they had to be married to another member of the acting company or an established “male” acting professional in the industry.

This journal assignment requires you to answer the following questions:

• in your opinion, is acting considered a “good” profession (regardless of the gender) or does it still have a taint of immorality attached to it?
• why or why not?
• as part of your response, select an actor or actress, of your choice, as an example (if you believe acting is a good profession, then include an actor that you feel is a good representation of that “good” profession, if you feel acting is still not a good profession or are mixed about it, then cite a person that you feel tarnishes the reputation of acting)
• include an image or video link that demonstrates your explanation

Create your response, in the Assignment submission box below (not in the Comments field), as a journal or diary entry.  This response will not be read by your fellow classmates.  The journal should be 1-2 pages long, approximately 400-500 words minimum.  Be careful of spelling, grammar, capitalization, and punctuation…proofread and edit your work as necessary.  When including a video or internet link, please cite your sources.  This assignment will be graded according to the Journal Rubric attached.

By submitting this paper, you agree: (1) that you are submitting your paper to be used and stored as part of the SafeAssign™ services in accordance with the Blackboard Privacy Policy; (2) that your institution may use your paper in accordance with your institution’s policies; and (3) that your use of SafeAssign will be without recourse against Blackboard Inc. and its affiliates

Instead of posing a generic question and then preparing answers, this journal is an online “debate” about that pagan and sinful ritual called theatre (as many people called it throughout history).  Here is the scenario.

A parish chapel is closed for economic reasons, but, technically, is still owned by the local church.  To raise funds, the church has decided to “rent” out the chapel to local organizations for meetings, events or activities, since it is no longer used by the church for religious activities (masses, weddings, prayers, etc.).  A request is made by a local theatre company to rent the chapel, in order to put on the theatre production Hair.  After some research, it is discovered the musical they have chosen does contain some minor language and adult situations, which could be deemed inappropriate by some members of the congregation and/or community.

Your journal assignment should answer the following:

• do you rent the space to the theatre company?
• why or why not?

Create your response, in the Assignment submission box below (not in the Comments field), as a journal or diary entry.  This response will not be read by your fellow classmates.  The journal should be 1-2 pages long, approximately 400-500 words minimum.  Researching the musical Hair most likely will be needed.   Be careful of spelling, grammar, capitalization, and punctuation…proofread and edit your work as necessary.  Please cite your sources if any are used, including any videos or links used.  This assignment will be graded according to the Journal Rubric attached.

By submitting this paper, you agree: (1) that you are submitting your paper to be used and stored as part of the SafeAssign™ services in accordance with the Blackboard Privacy Policy; (2) that your institution may use your paper in accordance with your institution’s policies; and (3) that your use of SafeAssign will be without recourse against Blackboard Inc. and its affiliates.