Author: Robert Lo

After seeing Sweat on Broadway, I’m amazed how the casts remembered their lines throughout the play and acted them out according to their characters’ feelings. Most of the time during the play, I forgot that this is a play with actors and actresses acting live on stage. In my opinion, the play moved slowly in the beginning, but it built tension to the climax where the action truly begins. The play showed all the characters’ sides and stories, so I can’t really say if one character’s action is right or wrong. The play touched current issues in the United States like racism, when Oscar was hated by the group in the bar for taking their jobs.

After the literature roundtable with Sarah Schulman, I learned one thing or two. She focused her topic of gentrification along with reading an excerpt from her book, Cosmopolitan. I learned how New York had changed a lot from her perspective and it has caused many issues such as homelessness, and it tends to continue as we move forward in the future. Older and outdated buildings are being deconstructed and replaced with modern version which also replaced the people who lived there. How can we prevent it as well as continue modernized the city? After the reading, I liked how she wants everybody in the audience to participate and be part of it by sharing one of their works. Questions from the audience also deepen the topic of gentrification and others related to Cosmopolitan. She gave her full understanding in her answers and was able to answer all the questions that was given to her.

My two questions for Sarah Schulman are: how do you publish a book and are you planning to write / publish another book?