Last year, while working on a production in Germantown, Philadelphia for Shakespeare in Clark Park, I learned about Solidarity Economy. I learned about it from Germantown resident, artist and activist Marie-Monique Marthol. She was involved in Learning Circles with an organization called GREAT - Germantown Residents for Economic Alternatives Together. They had been studying Solidarity Economy, created a Time Bank, and during the pandemic they launched a Mutual Aid Fund. They are learning about Community Land Trusts, building a Tool Library, and pooling resources among neighbors to organize an Emergency Preparedness & Community Self-Reliance network. This was in the context of Germantown - a neighborhood that launched and continues to support 4 community fridges.
The current economy we live in is based on maximizing financial profit – which of course means, for the few. And this is more true today than it was fifty or a hundred years ago. Solidarity Economy refers to a set of economic activities and tools that prioritize maximizing social profit – which means, for the many.
I am curious what it could look like to make theater based in Solidarity Economy.
With the platform of the Alan Schneider Director Award, I humbly invite anyone from the theater community (artists, production, staff, administrators, board members, consultants, etc.) to join me and others in Learning Circles about Solidarity Economy. I’ll share articles and books and organize speakers. We’ll reflect on our own practices and ideate applications to theater. The goal won’t be “a race to the best” ideas. Instead, in solidarity, the goal will be to inspire one another to imagine, and perhaps along the way we’ll identify new ways (or resurface neglected ways) to connect people to art, deliver art to people and activate creativity and artistry in every community. It won’t cost you money to participate in one of these Learning Circles, but it will cost you the currency of time. I ask that you bring in your heart and imagination, and I hope in return you receive inspiration, maybe validation, energy, and new paths forward in your own theater making.
If this interests you, please reply to this email.
