 In the midst of all this madness, I am compelled to write. Seeing the images of a 17 year old white male, moved by misguiding beliefs, shoot a military rifle, a weapon he had no business possessing, at protesters, with deadly force, shows the outcome of rhetoric forged in hate. By advocating no platform and acceding solely to the demagoguery of its leader, the RNC appears to be taking a page out of George Orwell's 1984: “The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power, pure power... We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means; it is an end." But Orwell also wrote: "If they could make me stop loving you-that would be the real betrayal."  NBA LA Clippers Coach Doc Rivers Doc Rivers spoke about this passionately and eloquently yesterday: “It’s just so sad. You know, what stands out to me is just watching the Republican Convention, and they’re spewing this fear, right. Like, all you hear is Donald Trump and all of them talking about fear. We’re the ones getting killed. We’re the ones getting shot. We’re the ones who are denied to live in certain communities. We’ve been hung. We’ve been shot. And all you do is keep hearing about fear. It’s amazing. Why do we keep loving this country, and this country does not love us back.” John Lewis' final words to American need reiteration: "I urge you to answer the highest calling of your heart and stand up for what you truly believe...the way of love and nonviolence is the more excellent way...walk with the wind, brothers and sisters, and let the spirit of peace and the power of everlasting love be your guide."  Sgt. Justin Pletcher & Calvin Matthew A glimpse of hope from a white cop and a black man in Minnesota.
"We smiled and said, ‘I needed this today.’ White cop and black man, we were both hurting. We walked around for an hour, just listening to each other.’: Police officer urges ‘we must build change together.’"
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 August 18, 1920, was the day the 19th Amendment to US Constitution was voted into law, assuring women in America the right to vote. On this day in 2020 we have an administration in Washington that is admittedly making it more difficult for citizens to exercise this universal suffrage: "But if they don’t get those two items [in the proposed Bill], that means you can’t have universal mail-in voting because they’re not equipped to have it." So, today, let's remember the long struggle for voters' rights and pledge that, no matter what, whether it means mailing our ballot as early as possible, delivering that ballot personally to our Board of Elections, or standing masked six feet apart for as many hours as it takes, WE WILL VOTE.  Sojourner Truth, 1864. Library of Congress
The Playwright: Erika Dickerson-Despenza |
 NTC Members Fran Dorn and Robert Schenkkan - 2019 Conference Action | Times are always tough for Theatre in the good ol' USA. But now? Not only are we in major pandemic mode, we are finally starting to begin to come to terms with the racism rampant in our society. Tacit acknowledgement of the problem just doesn't pass muster anymore. But where do we go? What can we do? Really LISTEN, for one thing. Then, work for change. Like Yoda said, "Do or do not. There is no try." So, let's DO. As we plan for the December 2020 Virtual Conference, we look for ways to LISTEN and for ways to ACT. In the Post Election world of 2021, we are called to all become Engines of Change. - David Fuller |
CALLING ALL SENATORS: FUND THE ARTS NOW!
AMERICAN THEATRE MAGAZINE:
An Open Letter to the Senators of the 116th Congress: Fund the Arts
BY MATTHEW-LEE ERLBACH
The arts are not a luxury but a huge economic engine for America’s cities and towns, and a reflection of our national culture. They deserve your unstinting support.
AMERICAN THEATRE MAGAZINE:
An Open Letter to the Senators of the 116th Congress: Fund the Arts
BY MATTHEW-LEE ERLBACH
The arts are not a luxury but a huge economic engine for America’s cities and towns, and a reflection of our national culture. They deserve your unstinting support.
2019 NTC Conference - Paul Green Award Recipient Jeremy O. Harris, President Fuller, Person of the Year Robert O'Hara Hi, Everyone!
The Board of Trustees has given me the green light to start this Blog as a way to communicate to you all. I will be sending a more formal letter to the membership soon. But this is a way to get some thoughts out quickly.
First, the death of Shirley Basfield Dunlap so suddenly last month was a huge shock to us all and we mourn her deeply. Shirley was an outstanding member of NTC and a great colleague on the board. Because we have much business to do, the Trustees acted quickly to bring in a new member to the board, as is provided in our By Laws when there is a vacancy. We elected Benny Sato Ambush to fill Shirley's term. Benny was a unanimous choice whose past board experience will be a great asset as we move forward.
The Trustees had our "annual retreat" last weekend. I put that in quotes because we had planned to travel to Kansas City, but instead, due the pandemic, we held a virtual meeting. Randy and Jean came to us from San Diego, James from LA, Benny was in San Francisco, Michael was in Arizona, Nicole in Kansas City, Paul in St. Louis, Erica down in South Carolina, Chuck and Jeni in New Hampshire, and our Assistant Katie and I were in different parts of Brooklyn. A well-spread out group!
Chief among the business conducted, was our beginning to plan the 2020 Virtual Conference. Our poll to the membership showed an overwhelming preference for having the 2020 Conference done over the internet, so here we go! Much news on this will be forthcoming. But for now, SAVE THESE DATES: Friday December 4, Saturday December 5, and Sunday December 6.
MORE SOON!
David
On behalf of the membership of The National Theatre Conference, comprised of leading theater makers from across our nation, the NTC Board of Trustees avows and affirms that #BlackLivesMatter and that American systemic racism must end.
While we applaud the tenets of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion initiatives in our theatres and institutions of learning, we believe we must go further, not to just embrace EDI as a tangential modus operandi, but to act to bring real change to centuries old, out-moded, and dangerously lethal belief systems.
Now, in the time of COVID-19, just as in the time of the HIV/AIDS crisis, we reiterate that Silence = Death. So, we stand with those whose voices are raised throughout the country demanding that the murder of George Floyd be not just the last straw, for there have been too many "last straws," but the Final Scene.
We pledge that together we will help be the engines of change.
- THE NTC BOARD OF TRUSTEES, David Fuller, President
While we applaud the tenets of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion initiatives in our theatres and institutions of learning, we believe we must go further, not to just embrace EDI as a tangential modus operandi, but to act to bring real change to centuries old, out-moded, and dangerously lethal belief systems.
Now, in the time of COVID-19, just as in the time of the HIV/AIDS crisis, we reiterate that Silence = Death. So, we stand with those whose voices are raised throughout the country demanding that the murder of George Floyd be not just the last straw, for there have been too many "last straws," but the Final Scene.
We pledge that together we will help be the engines of change.
- THE NTC BOARD OF TRUSTEES, David Fuller, President
Author
Past President David Fuller blogs on items of interest to the NTC Membership and the Field at large.
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