MeyerBros

“Words are too awful an instrument for good and evil to be trifled with: they hold above all other external powers a dominion over thoughts.” –William Wordsworth

This presidential campaign and the coverage of it have focussed heavily on the personalities and integrities of the candidates over-against their stances on specific issues. Recently I have heard more and more complaints about this being a problem. How can we be informed voters if we don’t talk about the issues?

Call me a character-ethicist (it’s probably the accurate thing to do), but I’m not sure I agree.

I am entirely in favor of voting for a candidate that has a similar opinion to mine on various issues - and some of those issues are very important to me. But I’m afraid we may have become blinded by the entire concept of ‘issues’ with ‘positions’ and ’solutions.’ I have said repeatedly in my theatre work that I cast and hire based on personality as much or more than skill, and will continue to do that proudly. I am convinced that the most important features of a candidate for any position are their relational abilities. If you aren’t a good person to relate to, it doesn’t matter what technical skills you have - your work will lack connection and humanity. I will happily vote for the candidate best displaying the qualities I want in a leader - qualities that display intelligence over party loyalty: Listening humbly and articulating passionately.

I’m not talking about wavering compromise or glib ignorance. I’m talking about passionate movement with an actual understanding and care for people as human beings.

Anne Bogart, a contemporary theatre artist, says “One of the most radical things you can do in this culture of the inexact is to finish a sentence… Political agenda has conspired against a citizen’s ability to speak. Words are dangerous and they can be powerful.” Articulation is a key to action. When I think of the most articulate voices I’ve heard in politics and history, they have always been the harbingers of change, and have often been received with fear and hate (MLK being a prime example, among many).

Several candidates have displayed articulation and the ability to relate to people. I look forward to hearing more from them, and care very little about the positions of the others. Count me in as one proud vote for passionate articulation.

oooo… I was with you right until that last bit.

(Sidenote: I was going to post this as a comment on Eric’s post, but then it got long and I decided to make it my own post. A review of his post, if you will.)

Some great questions, points, musings… But the “edification of the artists involved” part I question. At the New York Times, there is an ombudsman (yes, he’s a man), and he is the person who speaks for the readers (ie, the audience) - not for the paper. Speaking for the paper (ie, the artists) would be the editors in their editorials (like the Artistic Directors in our letters and director’s notes to audience). So the way I understand it, an ombuds for a theatre would be someone on staff who would express views of the audience (”the people”), not views of the artists.
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Adbusters has a provocative article entitled: The Secret to Being as Radical as We Want to Be is to Finance the Revolution Ourselves. It got me to thinking. What if the hypothetical Meyerbros design firm found a radical organisation committed to avoiding the grant-making cycle and offered ourselves as a subsidiary. Just a random idea…

Eduardo Machado is a Cuban (/American) playwright with a lot to say. He gave a pretty gutsy talk a couple weeks ago that I find inspiring, challenging and moving. I am in the midst of finishing up plans for the next New World Arts season, and some of what he said hit me right in the gut.

He weaves together thoughts about immigration, the wall being built on the Mexico border, and his own experiences as a green card-carrying immigrant. His treatment as an “outsider” by a profession (theatre) that I believe should be on the cutting edge of acceptance is appalling. This flows into his thoughts about theatre, about not trying to make audiences happy, and about bravery. He rails against rampant entitlement issues, including the “entitlement” to be trained as a theatre artist - which really just plays into making theatre more corporate-minded.
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