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A Play and a Debate, To Raise Political Awareness By NICHOLAS WESTRATE
I had heard a reading of Tony Kushner's play Only We Who Guard the Mystery Shall Be Unhappy this summer, and knew that it needed to be read at Juilliard before the 2004 presidential election. Juilliard students desperately need to become more politically aware and empowered. I have never seen a schoolwide demonstration or a single protest poster in my three years here. Once, in the residence hall, three of us watched the State of the Union address on the lounge television while others begged for the channel to be changed. This is a conservatory—but we are still college students at a time of war! To be fair to our community, these are symptoms of our entire generation; we are coming of age as a generation void of passion and imaginative thought. Modern American culture has left us indifferent. But young artists cannot survive in such an apathetic culture, and America has never needed us as much as it does now.
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Making your individual voice heard is the single most patriotic act possible.
It is how we attempt to define our freedom.
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Encouraged by Kathy Hood, administrative director of the Drama Division, I decided to produce a reading of Kushner's surreal play in which the First Lady, Laura Bush, is given the opportunity to extend her famous literacy program to three dead Iraqi children guarded by a single angel in heaven. As Kushner reminds us in the piece, "She is a very nice lady." I asked two of my colleagues—third-year drama student Mary Rasmussen and fourth-year drama student Rebecca Brooksher, to assist me in jolting our student body with this play. My classmate François Battiste, also a program assistant for the Office of Student Affairs, was organizing a political debate in an attempt to get out the vote on campus. We thought it best to join forces, so we presented "Voices Heard: A Juilliard Town Hall Meeting" on September 26 with the hope of igniting the passions of our peers. My agenda was obviously one-sided (as was the play), but the Office of Student Affairs encouraged me to invite both sides of the political spectrum to participate. So we did.After weeks of calls and e-mails, we were finally sent New York City councilwoman Gale Brewer by the Kerry campaign, and were referred to Peter Hort, a Republican running for Congress, by the Republican Committee of New York City. (The Bush campaign did not return any e-mails or telephone calls.) Mr. Hort confirmed three days before the event, and Ms. Brewer gave us five days' notice. Needless to say, planning was hectic. The evening would consist of the reading, a brief intermission, and then the debate. Only two questions were e-mailed in once the students were notified about the event (both questions from one student). So François and I wrote most of the questions ourselves. All of them had to be predetermined—by demand of the guests—and were presented by the moderator, François. Though neither guest was an official representative of a presidential candidate, we hoped they could enlighten us about the election. Alas, that did not occur.The councilwoman seemed unversed on many international issues, as well as political affairs outside of New York City. She pointed out that, with minimal shifts in the city's budget, public libraries could be open for one more day each week. She also reminded us that there were more police protecting the Republican National Convention on a single day than were enforcing laws in war-torn Baghdad. She spent most of her time dodging personal attacks from our Republican guest. She held her own, however, and stressed the importance of voting for John Kerry, and of community awareness. She invited students to her office for discussion at any time.Mr. Hort would not say whom he supported for president, but rather, assaulted both candidates and promoted his own campaign instead of addressing election-year issues. He told us that neither candidate has a solid plan on how to deal with Iraq, or how to solve any of America's pressing domestic issues such as health care and the question of gay marriage. (Mr. Hort is a very pro-gay Republican.)Both guests suddenly agreed, early on in the debate, to field questions from the audience, in response to a rousing shout from the students of "Who are you voting for?"The spontaneous questions from the audience were intelligent, eloquent, and surprisingly passionate. Mr. Hort later accused me privately of ambushing him with impromptu audience questions. Ms. Brewer thanked us for the opportunity, and offered to come again any time.Paul Hall was filled with nearly 60 students (no faculty), and the night was deemed a success. The reading was beautifully executed, and well received by all. After the debate, about 20 students discussed politics with Mr. Hort. I had to ask them all to leave, as we needed to close Paul Hall. They obeyed … then stood outside the School's revolving door to continue their conversation. I wasn't able to stick around, but I hear that more gathered, and stayed for nearly an hour by some reports. This was the evening's success.The student body was hardly jolted into a mass student revolution, as I might have hoped. But some 20 Juilliard students spent an extra hour afterward not practicing, sleeping, or receiving beloved "Horizons Points," but talking to a very unique Republican on a campaign blitz. This is no small matter. They were interested, engaged, and willing to fight. Maybe it inspired one more of them to vote this fall. Maybe it changed something. I thank them for coming, and thank them for fighting.Regardless of the election's outcome, one more of you may have realized the importance of your voice. If you spoke up when you heard something that sounded false, or argued when someone stepped on your beliefs, you conducted your own protest. You may have experienced your voice being heard in this distracted city, or not. We are citizens of this city, this country, this world, whether we like it or not. Dissent is patriotic. Making your individual voice heard is the single most patriotic act possible. It is how we attempt to define our freedom. We scream out through art or politics, but we must keep awareness of our stage: America. If you scream loud enough, you can even get it beyond the thick walls of Juilliard. Try it. Let me know how it goes. Nicholas Westrate is a third-year drama student.
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