The Builder’s Association production of a House/Divided created a parallel between the financial crisis of the present day and the Great Depression of the past. They took the two events and intertwined them with each other, allowing the audience to see the similarities between the two events. During the shifts in time, the large house in the middle of the stage was used as a way to bring the audience back to the period of the Great Depression. It even became see-through, so that viewers would be able to see clearly what was happening. A large digital screen was used as well, with different screens popping up as the performers were chatting into the computer screens. In short, House/Divided was so rich with media that it became a little suffocating; in fact, it overshadowed the performers to the point where I don’t remember any of the performers.

After this performance, I lean more towards Phelan’s view. Live performances feel more real when it isn’t cluttered with media and technology. However, I don’t completely agree with Phelan, nor do I completely agree with Auslander’s view. There are certain times though, where media can truly enhance the performance – in that aspect, yes, I do agree with Auslander. However, there has to be a certain balance between enhancing the performance and completely consuming it. In this instance, I feel like House/Divided was consumed by the media that was supposed to enhance it. Like the woman who strongly disliked the production in the discussion after the show, I feel like there wasn’t enough of an emotional aspect to the performance. To me, it was more informative rather than anything else. I didn’t feel the wrath that I felt while reading the book; I just felt a bit blank and confused. Without media in this performance though, I feel like it would have been a bit harder to understand, and a bit harder to transition between the different time periods. In this case, media aids in this performance, but as I stated before, House/Divided really did clutter the performance with media.