I’ve always wanted to make theatre in places where people already gather, to bring friends and strangers together around a play and discover what it has to say about the world outside the room.
I want to acknowledge my partner in crime, Mike Lippman, who has shared the same wish and convinced me to at least give it a try.
Over the past two months, that wish has begun to take shape at Revolutionary Grounds Books and Coffee. Our Cold Reading Club has read The Trojan Women, Antigone, and Nathan the Wise. We’ve also begun Aeschylus’ Oresteia trilogy, with The Libation Bearers coming next after our reading of Agamemnon. Everyone is welcome to read or simply listen. You don’t need acting experience or prior knowledge of the plays. Curiosity will do.
Revolutionary Grounds has given us room to experiment and build a partnership. What began as a desire to read and discuss plays that speak to our inner rumblings is becoming an artistic and literary community with a civic purpose. Changing the world one play at a time may sound like a tall order. But gathering people, listening closely, and making room for disagreement seems a worthwhile place to start.
With midterm elections approaching and authoritarianism gaining ground here and abroad, democracy has become a recurring concern in our readings. The ancient Greek plays put power, loyalty, justice, and public responsibility under pressure. Their conflicts feel familiar. We have contemporary plays ahead of us, too, and plenty of questions to pursue together.
Our return to Antigone raises the stakes. This time, actors will rehearse and present the play, scripts in hand. Sophocles gives us a ruler who confuses his authority with the public good, a young woman who refuses his command, and a community forced to reckon with the consequences. When does obedience become complicity? What does it cost to speak—and what does silence allow?
Join us Saturday, October 24, at 6:30 PM at Revolutionary Grounds Books and Coffee, at Swan and Speedway. Admission is $10 and includes a free beverage. Stay for the talkback afterward; your questions and disagreements belong in the room.
Bring a friend. Bring someone whose views differ from yours. Theatre gives us a place to examine the choices before us, but the responsibility follows us home: to speak up, to participate, and to vote. Democracy depends on what we do together. Let’s put it into practice.
