CMU School of Drama


Friday, January 07, 2022

Actors' Equity Renews Call For Action One Year After Capitol Insurrection

www.broadwayworld.com: Last year, Actors' Equity Association, the national labor union representing more than 51,000 professional actors and stage managers in live theatre, released a statement in response to the attempted insurrection of the government by followers of President Trump.

2 comments:

Monica Tran said...

I can’t believe it’s been one year since extremists decided to take matters into their own hands and attack the capital like that. I think it’s great that AEA made a statement about it, but I can’t help but ask why they did so? Like what kind of impact does it have on the public that a labor union for stage managers and actors does not condone such a thing? I mean I would’ve thought that was clear. I don’t know public statements always feel so performative to me but at the same time, it’s nice to hear them say that? If anything it’s better to cover their bases so maybe I just clarified why to myself. I hope in the future we can figure out how this attack was excepted and who allowed this to happen so we can figure out next steps to the consequences of their actions.

Maureen Pace said...

So, this, for rather obvious reasons, has been a huge conversation in news, in conversations around me, just in the country in general. The insurrection on Jan. 6th, 2021 was honestly terrifying to even watch on TV. I wish I could say there was disbelief; the claims, statements, actions, etc. by a lot of people (a lot of people in power especially) led to this event. I think Monica brings up an good point about these statements that people and organizations put out. I do see a point in the AEA, or anyone else, publicly condoning such an action, to make it clear where they stand & what values they uphold. I was also glad to see the AEA vocalizing their support for the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Social media platforms were flooded with these kinds of statements last year, and again (though to a slightly lesser extent) this year as we marked a full year since the attack on the Capitol.