Election as Ceremony: Politics and the Art of Transformational Dialogue

Abstract

Election as Ceremony: Politics and the Art of Transformational Dialogue explores the parallels between ensemble theater practice and political campaigns. I examine established comparisons between theater and politics and then expand on those to outline a new territory of research by describing eight correlations of phenomena within political campaigns and ensemble theater practice. The research combines my history as a performer and political operative and gathers testimonial evidence from ensemble theater practitioners who are active in electoral politics. To imagine richer interfaces between ensemble theater practice and political campaigns that benefit the public and the common good I interrogate the experience of developing and creating ads with the siblings of Congressman Paul Gosar for the Brill for Congress campaign. I cross-reference the creative processes of the Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards and the Seven A’s of transformational social action developed by Jerry Stropnicky and the Network of Ensemble Theaters to elaborate on the opportunities and challenges of using ensemble theater practices and approaches with campaigns and candidates. The research is an invitation to participate in the challenge of developing transformational dialogues with ourselves, with colleagues, and with community. It acknowledges nearby territories of research, proposes an emergent theory of correlations, gathers testimonial evidence from practitioners, and adjusts a metric for gauging transformational social action in the arts to politics.