Jennifer Esperanza
Right now, the oh-so-imminent inaguration may be dominating your thoughts, so it's a good thing that The Election Monologues happens Jan. 20 at the Santa Fe Art Institute (1600 St. Michael's Drive, 424-5050) at 7 pm, $10-$15. It presents practiced speeches by a diverse group of Santa Feans who want to share their feelings about this new presidency. The event takes place concurrently in 13 other cities, but was conceived right here in Santa Fe by Tanya Taylor Rubinstein, an actor who tells SFR that events like this are more imporant than ever.
What do you feel these monologues do for the speakers and the audience?
They are a way (for speakers) to reclaim their power in a time when there's a blanket of silencing going on, and oppressing, culturally. It's a way to engage with our inner creative expression and feel like we have something purposeful to do by offering our stories, our wisdom and our inspiration.
Is there a dominant theme or tone?
It became less about the election, in a way, than it did about sexism, class, racism and privilege. The gestalt of the group landed on those subjects, and what people are afraid for, as well as how they are finding their way through and looking towards the future.
Why is an event like this important right now?
I think this is the path to resistance. I think this is the path to how we're going to create the America we want rather than the caricature of a cartoon that's playing out in DC right now of fascism, of stolen elections, of corporate-run politics gone absolutely amok. I see it as a country bottoming out right now, and the only way for individuals to address that is to activate, collaborate and come together in our genuine voices with our deep stories and our deep creativity engaged to step outside of that system and create what we want.
