AiOP Intern Witnesses Some Political Theater

By Georgia Ossorguine

“Election Selection, or You Bet” is Theater for the New City’s 40th annual Street Theater musical, written and directed by Crystal Field with music composed by Joseph Vernon Banks. Photo by Julia Slaff.

Street Theatre’s “Election Selection, or You Bet!” was a free public theatre experience that I saw playing on August 14th at the Naumburg bandshell in the heart of Central Park. It was part of the Theater for the New City’s 40th annual Street Theater musical, and was written and directed by Crystal Field, with music composed by Joseph Vernon Banks. The plot of the show focused on a working class man-a classic neighborhood guy and a survivor of the 2008 Great Recession-who works twelve hours a day at three part-time jobs to try to make ends meet. He is a dog walker, an MTA janitor, and has a one-day job as a poll worker in the New York presidential primaries.

The show begins with the citizens of the man’s community expressing their frustration with this election year and with the government in general, as the people discuss the importance of issues such as broken voting machines and how disorganized the voting locations are in the New York area. The community fears that their voices are not being heard and their votes have little significance in the sea of votes from around the country, with a song with lyrics including “Nothing’s Gonna Change, How Could it?”

Here we meet a passionate right-wing, African American conservative, whose flawed logic and absurd views hold slavery, the oppression of his people, as the historical backbone of America’s financial wealth. He proudly says that he will be supporting Donald Trump for president, and that he is strongly against affirmative action, claiming it is demeaning to a worker’s reputation. After primary day, through a series of dream-like experiences that were caused by a traumatic near death experience on the subway tracks, our two polar opposite main characters, the conservative and the working class man, witness different historic events and examples of discrimination against minorities throughout history and, as a result, are educated about the importance of affirmative action. These events include the discrimination of Mohammed Ali, The Stonewall Riots, the Seneca Falls Convention and the experience of hispanic immigrants in America. The conservative character’s journey helps him to realize the importance of taking action and fighting for justice, rather than sitting idly by, waiting for fat cat politicians and CEOs to change the world for us.

The show explores the idea of activism and the notion that it only takes a few passionate members of a community to create change and unite people towards a common goal. The show also illustrates the different struggles of the working class and highlights growing problems of income inequality. Although this show is geared towards the education of children, with an eye toward engaging young people in both local and global issues, it utilizes distinctly adult ideas and themes. As a white teenage girl living in New York, it was engaging to see the fears and concerns of the diverse population of America portrayed on the stage, and helped me keep in mind the struggles of those in completely different worlds than me, even though they might live around the corner. “Election Selection, or You Bet” is playing for free at various parks around the five boroughs through September 18th. For more information and to find a performance near you go to http://www.jsnyc.com/season/stth.htm.