People on boats who may or may not be drug dealers are being murdered at sea. Innocent Americans are being thrown in detention centers. Millions are about to lose food assistance and/or healthcare.
Congress is off on a vacation. President Trump is off on a vacation.
We are not helpless.
We can fight back. We must vote, go to candidate forums and get involved in our community. (The Pikes Peak Bulletin is hosting a forum for candidates running in next year’s 5th congressional district race on Nov. 15 from 6-8 p.m. at Community Anchor Academy, 1652 S. Circle Dr.).
Our No Kings Protests drew thousands in Colorado Springs and Manitou. Nationally, the protests drew nearly 7 million people, making this the largest in the history of America.
Our boycotts of Disney and Hulu and other supporters of authoritarianism have led to change.
A few of us in the local arts community wanted to do more. We started this thing we’re calling The Arts Uprise Resistance Theatre, and we have a number of performances coming up to raise money for arts and media groups that are being defunded by those who want to stifle our voices.
You can make a difference by supporting our efforts, and you’ll have a great time in the process.
Thankfully, we’re not alone in this effort in the Pikes Peak region. We’ve found partners in the Millibo Art Theatre, The Youth Documentary Academy, Craft Theatre, Poetry719, Tell the Winning Story, The Manitou Art Center, and Auric Gallery as well as dozens of actors, directors, singers, poets, filmmakers, storytellers, and artists.
And, thanks to American Theatre magazine, the movement to use the arts to fight authoritarianism and fascism has now gone national.
American Theatre recently put out this call to arms:
“A collective of artists is inviting galleries, museums, libraries, comedy clubs, theatres, and concert halls across the country to host exhibitions, performances, and public cultural events that channel resistance against authoritarianism in a nationwide “Fall of Freedom” movement on Nov. 21-22. Its initiators, including playwright and screenwriter Lynn Nottage, describe it as an ‘urgent call to the arts community to unite in defiance of authoritarian forces sweeping the nation, activating a nationwide wave of creative resistance.’”
To align with and support this national movement, the Arts Uprise will add to its performance roster a special free production of music and theater on Nov. 22 at the Manitou Art Center (513 Manitou Ave.) at 7 p.m.
The Arts Uprise Resistance Theatre, which performed its first production to full houses at the Millibo Art Theatre in June, will go on with two other ticketed productions:
7 p.m. Nov. 6 and 8 at the Manitou Art Center
7:30 p.m. Jan. 16 and 17 and 2 p.m. Jan. 18 the Millibo Art Theatre
All of our performers, producers and directors work pro-bono, and we donate proceeds to arts and media outlets that are being defunded.
The collective invites other Colorado cultural organizations to join the movement, whether it’s staging resistance productions or exhibitions to coincide with American Theatre’s Fall of Freedom weekend, or producing works with the resistance theme at other times.
The Epstein Files is a regular Bulletin column featuring Warren Epstein’s take on politics, food, the arts and whatever else is on his mind. There will always be one mention of President Donald Trump as a confirmation that yes, Trump is in The Epstein Files. As Bulletin board chair, Epstein does not accept pay for his writing here.
