By Paul Bedard

Learn more about our 10 year commemoration here

The Debates has been, by far, our biggest project. It’s been through many iterations, encompassing dozens of public events, hundreds of people, and nearly a thousand footnotes in the published scripts.

The project began in Ithaca, NY, where I was serving as a Drama League Directing Fellow at the Hangar Theatre. It was Summer 2015: Obama was president, Bernie Sanders was a relative unknown, and our current clown-in-chief was still a harmless sideshow. The 2016 presidential campaign was just beginning in earnest, and I was curious to explore previous presidential debates. With an eager company of young actors, I began digging into excerpts of the infamous 1960 presidential debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. We sought to explore what was specific to the very first televised debate, the debate that literally invented the genre. During this exploration, however, we discovered that the process—analyzing a debate transcript, having different people “try on” the candidates, and experimenting with candidates’ projected images—was more compelling and empowering than the show we initially set out to make. By the time my fellowship ended and I returned to New York, the Kennedy/Nixon idea was scrapped and we dove full steam ahead into what became The Debates 2016.

Between October 2015 and April 2016, we presented nine Watch Parties and Political Analysis Meetings; expanded our team of actors and researchers; and presented six distinct workshops, clarifying our newfound process along the way. By the time the field of candidates had dwindled to Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, we had a show we were proud of. We presented The Debates 2016: Democratic Primary Edition in New York, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania, before each state’s primary, and the response was thrilling. NY City Lens wrote, "Not only was The Debates… about politics. It was politics." The Hartford Courant wrote, "[The Debates] was the way to spend the nervous hours before voting... Forthright, in-your-face, up-to-the-minute..."

That September, we began the process again with the general election. We watched and analyzed the debates, crafted a script and performed at the beloved Under St. Marks theater the night before Hillary Clinton’s assured victory. And… we all know how that election turned out. We learned, however, that our Debates work is strongest when it shines a light on challenging questions and complicated candidates. The problem with the 2016 general election was that, for our community, the decision was crystal clear. The notion of stepping into that particular Republican nominee’s shoes and words, with empathy, was just… not possible for us.

We believe there is an audience for a Debates show that includes our 45th president, and a company who can make it, but Theater in Asylum is not it. We do our best work when there is a diversity of political opinion in the room and when there’s something to debate. With the general election, we didn’t have those things. The choice was clear for our community, and this led to a production that didn’t expose choices or the debate we assumed was needed.

In the last four years, the country has changed in ways we never thought imaginable. The urgency around the 2020 election couldn’t be higher, and when the Democratic primary debates started in June 2019, it was clear that we needed to mount another Debates show. The Debates 2020 roared with excitement, following over 20 candidates with 12 Watch Parties, 10 Political Analysis Meetings, 5 Cabarets, and a much-needed debate about the candidates and issues. We had political diversity in the room, with a left contingent split between Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren and a moderate contingent that split and shifted throughout the year. When the pandemic struck and the production was cancelled, we were again at a loss. What do we do with this work?

With the country facing both a raging virus and an urgent reckoning with race, we moved online and reframed much of the show. The Debates 2020 performed on Zoom just before New York’s rescheduled primary on June 21, 2020, and while the race for the Democratic nomination was largely already decided, the piece bloomed and provoked an incredible conversation about our country that reverberated in our community for weeks. Who were we and who are we, really, as a country? What does it mean to rally behind a candidate –– which parts of their and your own identity are you connecting to? And which parts are you disconnecting from?

I am immensely proud of The Debates and the team who followed its evolving raison d'être. I’m so grateful to these people for their bravery and curiosity. Our scripts are still online, available to all. I don’t know how they’ll age and I'll be curious to revisit them in a few months or a few years, after we’ve hopefully begun healing and growing as a nation. I know that the work we did on the 2016 and 2020 primary contests was relevant and useful to the team and our community. I look forward, with hope, to future debates and the chance to ask again: who are we, and who do we want to be?

Dear friends,

We hope you are safe and well as, four months into a pandemic, we all continue to soul-search and seek a better world. We at Theater in Asylum continue to read all we can, take stock of our mission and working practices, and try to grow.

We would like to applaud the work of organizations like WeSeeYouWAT and The Killroys in their work promoting equity and justice within the theater industry. There is so much to reevaluate and so many steps to be taken. We are grateful for the clarity they offer in the work that's been done and the work we still have ahead.

As many of you know, for the last few years Theater in Asylum has been developing a theatrical adapation of the Democratic Presidential debates. On Sunday, June 21, we presented The Debates 2020 live online. We also published a script (with over 600 footnotes citing our sources). We are so very proud of the work and hope it helped voters in anticipation of New York's primary on June 23. Over the years the piece transformed into a kind of time capsule of this campaign's soul searching. We are so proud of the piece and thrilled to share it with you.

For those of you who missed the live broadcast, it's now available to stream on YouTube. Below you'll find buttons taking you to the video, the script, and a list of organizations doing good work that our team compiled.

Thank you to the army of artists and supporters who made the piece possible, and thank you readers of this email for all your support of Theater in Asylum. We are so grateful for all that this community has accomplished and continues to fight for.

Safety, power, and love to you,

Paul, Katie, Kathryn, Hilarie, and Samantha
Theater in Asylum

Tonight, we are asking our audience to share the love with some incredible organizations doing good work. If you're in a position to, please consider making a donation to one of the organizations listed below. This list was compiled by the team that created The Debates 2020.

BAIL FUNDS

The Bail Project - designed to combat mass incarceration by disrupting the money bail system - one person at a time.

National Bail Out - a Black-led and Black-centered collective of abolitionist organizers, lawyer and activities building a community-based movement to support our folk and end systems of pretrial detention and ultimately mass incarceration.


CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM

Civil Rights Corps - challenges the money bail system, debtor’s prisons, privatized probation, and prosecutorial misconduct. ** Personally connected to our team

Communities United for Police Reform - working to end discriminatory policing in New York, they are advancing policies that protect the safety and rights of all New Yorkers to create true community safety.

Equal Justice Initiative - created by Bryan Stevenson, is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United State, to challenge racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society.


ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT

Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration - relentlessly pursues strategies to close gaps in family and community wealth to ensure all families in Central Brooklyn are prosperous and healthy.

The Hope Program - empowers New York to build sustainable futures through comprehensive training, jobs, advancement and a lifelong career support.

Liberated Capital: A Decolonizing Wealth Fund: Liberated Capital gives through a reparations model that trusts and supports the leadership of those most impacted by historical and systemic racism.

National Domestic Worker's Alliance - NDWA works for respect, recognition, and inclusion in labor protections for domestic workers, the majority of whom are immigrants and women of color.

One Fair Wage Emergency Fund - Restaurant workers, gig workers and other hourly workers are facing unprecedented economic hardship from the coronavirus crisis.

PowHer New York - is a statewide network of individuals and organizations committed to accelerating economic equality for 10 million New York women and their families.

The Worker’s Lab: 100% of your donation will go to (gig and low-income contract) workers who have lost their income because they don't qualify for employer-based benefits.


MEDICAL EMPOWERMENT

The Hope Clinic for Women - independent abortion clinic in Illinois, my aunt is the lead OBGYN there. I know the money is used well. It gets women from ~10 states weekly.

RIP Medical Debt - You donate to buy people's medical debt so that they are released from it. Because of the Wall Street craziness, your money is worth 100x its amount or something! Verified by my activist friend.


INTERSECTION OF IMMIGRATION AND LGBTQ RIGHTS

Caribbean Equality Project - empowers and strengths the marginalized voices of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people of Caribbean origin and descent through advocacy, community organizing, education, cultural, and social programming.

Immigration Equality - is the nation’s leading LBGTQ and HIV-positive immigrant rights organization. Through direct legal services, policy advocacy, and impact litigation, we advocate for immigrants and families facing discrimination based on their sexual orientation, gender identity, or HIV status.

Trans Queer Pueblo - create community solutions to solve our basic needs of LGBT+ migrants of color. They cultivate the leadership of LGBT people and migrants of color to transform our needs into community power and fight for social justice for all.


LGBTQ SERVICE ORGANIZATION

The Marsha P Johnson Institute - protects and defends the human rights of BLACK transgender people. They do this by organizing, advocating, creating an intentional community to heal, developing transformative leadership, and promoting our collective power.

Sage - the country’s largest and oldest organization dedicated to improving the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) older adults.


SOCIAL JUSTICE

Asian-Pacific Environmental Network - building the power of Asian immigrant and refugee communities on the frontlines of fighting big polluters.

The Conscious Kid - an education, research, and policy organization dedicated to equity and promoting positive racial identity development in youth.

Emergent Fund - focuses on grassroots organizing and power building in communities of color who are facing injustice based on racial, ethnic, religious and other forms of discrimination.

Immigrant Rights fund or Racial Equity Fund within the BK Community Fund - a flexible source of support for the Foundation’s strategic initiatives, grantmaking, and leadership activities.

North Star Fund - a social justice fund that supports grassroots organizing led by communities of color building power in New York City and the Hudson Valley.

Survived and Punished - organizes to de-criminalize efforts to survive domestic and sexual violence, support and free criminalized survivors, and abolish gender violence, policing, prisons, and deportations.


SUPPORTING BLACK COMMUNITIES

Black Feminist Susu - resource Black feminist leaders, organizations, and movements for transformative change.

The Loveland Foundation (Therapy Fund): financial assistance for Black women and girls seeking therapy in the U.S.


THEATER ORGANIZATIONS AND INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCES

Black Feast - a creation of Black narrative and an offering to Black lineage, bringing together guests and artistic to share an intimate and sensory four-course meal. ** Personally connected to our team

Junebug Productions - based in New Orleans, emerged from the Free Southern Theater in 1980 with a mission to create and support artistic works that question and confront inequitable conditions that have historically impacted the African American community.

viBe Theater Experience - provides girls, young women, and non binary youth of color in New York City with free, high quality artistic, leadership and academic opportunities.


VOTING RIGHTS and POLITICAL LEADERSHIP

Blue Future - aims to develop and sustain a pipeline for young progressive leaders

Fair Fight - created by Stacey Abrams, they promote fair elections in Georgia and around the country, encourage voter participation in elections, and educate voters about elections and their voting rights.

Thank you!

The Debates 2020
Online Presentation
Sunday, June 21st, 2020
Music & Poetry Preshow at 7:30pm EDT
Main Performance at 8pm EDT

Featuring Christian Ávila, Danny Bradley, Christopher DeSantis, Nadia Diamond, Ali Dineen, Amanda Ghosh, Kara Hankard, Addison Jenkins, Brandon Otis, Zac Porter, and Sully Ross

Music and poetry preshow featuring
Ali Dineen & Marlee Miller!

Dear Friends,

This moment continues to test the soul of our nation. We hope you are all safe and know how much you matter. We at Theater in Asylum are continuing to reflect and trying to grow.

We previously emailed you to say that our Debates presentation would be on Friday, June 19th. Soon after announcing, we realized that the date we picked is also Juneteenth, our nation's second Independence Day, commemorating the emancipation of Black people in the United States. We are sorry for the oversight and out of respect for Juneteenth, we are rescheduling our performance. We encourage our audience to learn more about Juneteenth here and here.

Our rescheduled date, will be the evening of Father's Day, Sunday, June 21st. A musical preshow featuring Ali Dineen will begin at 7:30pm, followed by the main event at 8pm. We are so proud of the show and hope you will join us.

The last thing today is that we'd like to remind New Yorkers that there is an election coming up! The election is Tuesday, June 23rd, and all New Yorkers are entitled to an absentee ballot, which must be requested by June 16th (that's on Tuesday!). You can request an absentee ballot here. Our full voter guide is here.

The Debates 2020
Online Presentation
Sunday, June 21st, 2020
Musical Preshow at 7:30pm EDT
Main Performance at 8pm EDT

Safety, power, and love to you,

Paul, Katie, Kathryn, Hilarie, and Samantha
Theater in Asylum

Dear Friends,

This is an impossible moment in our history. We wish safety, power, and love for everyone reading this, especially our black friends and those threatened by white supremacy. We believe that Black Lives Matter.

We believe one way to fight for a more just world, is to vote. New Yorkers have the opportunity to exercise their right to vote on June 23 and we hope you will.

As part of our efforts surrounding The Debates 2020, we have compiled a voter guide to help you through the process of voting in New York. We hope you find this useful and empowering.

The election is Tuesday, June 23, but all New Yorkers are entitled to an absentee ballot, which must be requested by June 16 (just over a week away!). You can request an absentee ballot here. View our full Voter Guide at theaterinasylum.com/vote2020.html

Safety, power, and love to you,

Paul, Katie, Kathryn, Hilarie, and Samantha
Theater in Asylum