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Whatever You Are, Be Good: US Town Hall Portraits, the latest documentary theater offering from Verbatim Performance Lab, examines the country’s extreme political polarization through the words of real Americans. Using interview transcripts as its source, the production asks whether the country is as divided as many think, whether geography shapes our political views, and whether our own biases prevent us from finding common ground. With the midterm elections just weeks away, it illuminates America’s civic discourse in a timely manner.
Whatever you are, be good will play October 20-23 and 27-30 at Pless Hall Black Box Theatre, 82 Washington Square East. The final four performances will be broadcast live by NYU-TV.
Created by Joe Salvatore and Keith R. Huff, the production is based on 110 interviews conducted between October 2021 and August 2022. Artist-researchers from three university classes interviewed people of various ages, races, geographies, political affiliations and genders identity. Subjects were asked about their views on the country’s polarization and how to correct it. The interviews touch on a range of topics, including covid, vaccines, abortion, the war in Ukraine and Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation hearings to the Supreme Court.
Each interview was transcribed and 50 were selected for editing and inclusion in the production. These interviews will be conducted by 10 actors, many with different identities than the interview subjects.
“Our theory is that audiences listen more carefully when they see and hear someone’s story coming from another person’s body, and then actually pay attention to what’s being said and how it’s being said.” Their critical awareness increases. And actors can explore the lived experience of someone other than themselves to generate empathy for that person’s experience,” said Salvatore, director of the Verbatim Performance Lab and clinical professor of educational theater. “All of that exposes assumptions and biases and turns the expectations of the audience and the actors on its head, and that leads to a dialogue about why. Which is the point.
Each performance will be unique because the audience will randomly select the portraits to be presented. As the evening unfolds, the audience will be polled about their reactions to the experience and the results will be shared in the discussion session that follows. After the run, the Lab will record all 50 portraits for an online archive.
“The only way to get through a polarized climate is to get people talking to each other, and so this is an interactive experience,” Salvatore said. “So often the audience experiences a performance while sitting in the dark and in silence. The research and data collection is an invitation to enter into a dialogue about what has emerged for you as you hear these opinions from across the country and from a spectrum of personal positions.
The Verbatim Performance Lab was established in 2017 and is located in the Department of Music and Performing Arts Professions in the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. The lab hosts performances and events for students, teachers, and the community, and conducts arts-based research using verbatim performance to explore larger questions about society, culture, politics, and media.
Whatever You Are, Be Good: US Town Hall Portraits is produced by the Educational Theater Program in collaboration with Verbatim Performance Lab, NYU-TV, NYU Libraries, and NYU’s John Brademas Center, with support from Global Research Initiatives, Office of the Provost.
Performances are at 8pm on October 20-22 and 27-29 and at 3pm on October 23 and 30. Admission is $20, $10 for NYU faculty, staff and alumni, and $5 for NYU students and senior citizens. Tickets are available online at tickets.nyu.edu, at the box office at 566 LaGuardia Place, or by phone at (212) 998-4941. Visit the event link to view the free live streams from October 27-30.
All visitors ages one and older must provide proof of being fully vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19 with an FDA-approved or WHO-listed vaccine and government-issued ID at the door. Vaccination documentation must be in English and include: Name, date of birth, date of doses and vaccine manufacture for each dose.
Steinhardt Department of Music and Performing Arts, founded in 1925, offers a conducive environment in which to explore disciplined and interdisciplinary endeavors in music performance, composition, music business, arts administration, music technology, music therapy, drama therapy, and the arts in education (educational theater, music and dances ). Together, students and faculty engage in professional, scholarly, and artistic practices that attract international attention and serve as models for advancement.
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