“I heard about [the performance], and I said, ‘my gosh, we got to go!’ So, I got my kids and got the tickets, and here we are!”

“First of all, the experience was one of beauty and pageantry. The artists that were up on stage were phenomenal. I was enraptured by it!” Mr. Cartwright exclaimed.

“Then, as you sit there, you begin to understand the story—it was a learning process—you realize that there was a message there, and it’s quite strong too.”

Though Shen Yun Performing Arts is well-beloved by audiences around the world, it is currently forbidden by the ruling Chinese regime from performing in China.

“I go home with the question in my own mind and heart that there has to be something more I can do. Shen Yun and the people of China are being subjected to so much—I just want to cry,” Mr. Cartwright said.

“That reality, the atrocities that are being done—I don’t know yet what that means for me, but something [in the performance] says more is required of me as a person, as a human being, [to help] my fellow human being.”

As a Christian, Mr. Cartwright was very intrigued by the spiritual element of Shen Yun. “I want to know more about that. I’m really curious. That was something I was completely unaware of—this spiritual realm [of China,]” he said.

“It certainly connected with me from a spiritual standpoint and as a human. It’s important that we treat each other, care for each other, and protect each other in ways that we were designed for [by the divine].”

Finally, Mr. Cartwright would like to offer his best wishes to the performing artists.

“I pray that [Shen Yun] will be protected and generate more and more support. I hope more people are like me—show up and have their eyes opened even more,” he said.

“I’m extremely grateful that we [came.] There are multi-level and multi-tiered meanings in the performance. I’m thankful for Shen Yun and for everyone associated with it.”