In ‘Fight Back,' the Audience Learns to Act Up
Thirty-six years ago, the AIDS activist group Act Up New York had the space that night for its weekly meeting — an event that David Wise's immersive theater experiment 'Fight Back' seeks to recreate.
Audience members are by definition participants, too. Each has been assigned the persona of someone who was involved with the organization early on. Act Up was in emergency mode then, trying desperately to get the culture to treat the catastrophic epidemic with greater urgency.
Just days before the meeting, AIDS had killed Robert Mapplethorpe at 42. Within a year, it would claim Alvin Ailey at 58, Keith Haring at 31 and many thousands more. For the people in the room, death had become a far too frequent part of life.
That is the cauldron in which the real meeting took place, and into which 'Fight Back' means to drop its audience, as an exercise in empathy. As Wise, 47, explained by phone, he doesn't expect people in 2025 to be able to access the breadth of emotions the activists felt in 1989.
'But I do think that there's something about inhabiting with your body,' he said, 'and doing the actions that someone was doing, and saying the words that someone might have been saying, that is really effective, and affecting.'
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Atlantic
6 hours ago
- Atlantic
Israel and Gaza, Held Hostage by Fundamentalism
Apart from mourning the attack on the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, which felt like it happened while U2 was onstage at Sphere Las Vegas, I have generally tried to stay out of the politics of the Middle East … this was not humility, more uncertainty in the face of obvious complexity. In recent months, I have written about the war in Gaza in The Atlantic and spoken about it in The Observer, but I circled the subject. As a co-founder of the ONE Campaign, which tackles AIDS and extreme poverty in Africa, I felt my experience should be focused on the catastrophes facing that work and that part of the world. The hemorrhaging of human life in Sudan or Ethiopia hardly makes the news. The civil war in Sudan alone is beyond comprehension, leaving 150,000 dead and 2 million people facing famine And that was before the dismantling of USAID in March and the gutting of PEPFAR, lifesaving programs for the poorest of the poor that ONE has fought for decades to protect. Those cuts will likely lead to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of children over the next few years. But there is no hierarchy to such things. The images of starving children in the Gaza Strip brought me back to a working trip that my wife, Ali, and I made 40 years ago next month to a food station in Ethiopia following U2's participation in Live Aid 1985, amid another man-made famine. To witness chronic malnutrition up close would make it personal for any family, especially as it affects children. When the loss of noncombatant life en masse appears so calculated—especially the deaths of children—then evil is not a hyperbolic adjective. In the sacred text of Jew, Christian, and Muslim, it is an evil that must be resisted. The rape, murder, and abduction of Israelis at the Nova music festival and elsewhere in southern Israel was evil. On the awful Saturday night and Sunday morning of October 7–8, I wasn't thinking about politics. Onstage in the Nevada desert, I just couldn't help but express the pain everyone in the room was feeling and is still feeling for other music lovers and fans like us—hiding under a stage in Kibbutz Re'im then butchered to set a diabolical trap for Israel and to get a war going that might just redraw the map from the river to the sea. Hamas's leadership was willing to gamble with the lives of 2 million Palestinians. It wanted to sow the seeds for a global intifada of the sort that U2 had glimpsed at work in Paris during the Bataclan attack in 2015, but it could succeed only if Israel's leaders fell into the trap that Hamas set for them. Yahya Sinwar didn't mind if he lost the battle or even the war if he could destroy Israel as a moral as well as an economic force. Over the months that followed, as Israel's revenge for the Hamas attack appeared more and more disproportionate and disinterested in the equally innocent civilian lives in Gaza … I felt as nauseous as anyone, but reminded myself that Hamas had deliberately positioned itself under civilian targets, having tunneled its way from school to mosque to hospital. When did a just war to defend the country turn into an unjust land grab? I hoped Israel would return to reason. I was making excuses for a people seared and shaped by the experience of Holocaust, who understood the threat of extermination not simply as a fear but as a fact. I reread Hamas's charter of 1988; it's an evil read. (Article Seven!) But I also understood that Hamas is not the Palestinian people. Palestinians have for decades endured and continue to endure marginalization, oppression, occupation, and the systematic stealing of the land that is rightfully theirs. Given our own historic experience of oppression and occupation in Ireland, it's little wonder so many here have campaigned for decades for justice for the Palestinian people. We know Hamas is using starvation as a weapon in the war, but now so too is Israel, and I feel revulsion for that moral failure. The government of Israel is not the nation of Israel, but the government of Israel, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today, deserves our categorical and unequivocal condemnation. There is no justification for the brutality he and his far-right government have inflicted on the Palestinian people, in Gaza or in the West Bank. And not just since October 7; well before it too—though the level of depravity and lawlessness we are seeing now feels like uncharted territory. Curiously, those who say these reports are not true are not demanding access to Gaza for journalists, and they seem deaf to the revealing rhetoric. Examples that sharpen my pen include: Israel's heritage minister claiming that the government 'is racing ahead for Gaza to be wiped out'; its defense minister and security minister arguing that no aid should be let into the territory; its finance minister vowing that 'not even a grain of wheat will enter the Strip.' And now Netanyahu has announced a military takeover of Gaza City, which most informed commentators understand as a euphemism for the colonization of Gaza. We know the rest of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank are next. What century are we in? Is the world not done with this far, far-right thinking? We know where it ends … world war, millenarianism … Might the world deserve to know where this once promising, bright-minded, flawed, but only democratic nation in the region, is headed unless there is a dramatic change of course? Is what was once an oasis of innovation and freethinking now in hock to a fundamentalism as blunt as a machete? Are Israelis really ready to let Benjamin Netanyahu do to Israel what its enemies failed to achieve over the past 77 years, and disappear it from membership in a community of nations built around even a flawed decency? As someone who has long believed in Israel's right to exist and supported a two-state solution, I want to make clear to anyone who cares to listen our band's condemnation of Netanyahu's immoral actions and to join all who have called for a cessation of hostilities on both sides. If you will not listen to Irish voices, then please, please, please stop and listen to Jewish ones—from the high-mindedness of Rabbi Sharon Brous, to the tearful comedy of the Grody-Patinkin family—who fear the damage to Judaism, as well as to Israel's neighbors. Listen to the more than 100,000 Israelis who protested in Tel Aviv this week for an end to the war. Listen to the hundreds of retired Israeli generals and intelligence leaders who say that Netanyahu has gone too far. Our band stands in solidarity with the people of Palestine who truly seek a path to peace and coexistence with Israel and with their rightful and legitimate demand for statehood. We stand in solidarity with the remaining Israeli hostages and plead that someone rational negotiate their release—maybe someone like the imprisoned Marwan Barghouti, whom a former head of the Mossad, Efraim Halevy, described as 'probably the most sane and the most qualified person' to lead the Palestinians Our band is pledged to contribute our support by donating to Medical Aid for Palestinians. We urge Israelis, the majority of whom did not vote for Netanyahu, to demand unfettered access by professionals to deliver the crucial care needed throughout Gaza and the West Bank that they best know how to distribute, and to let enough trucks through. It will take more than 100 trucks a day to seriously address the need—more like 600 —but the flooding of humanitarian aid will also undercut the black marketeering that has benefited Hamas. Wiser heads than mine will have a view of how best to accomplish this, but surely the hostages and Gazans alike deserve a different approach—and quick.
New York Post
9 hours ago
- New York Post
Prince Harry considering starting new charity after Sentebale scandal
Prince Harry is mulling over the idea of starting a new charity following a high-profile fallout at Sentebale that saw him exit stage left. The Duke of Sussex sensationally left his role as patron at the African charity, which he had co-founded with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho in 2006, back in March following an internal dispute with the chair, Dr. Sophie Chandauka. The 'Spare' author's reps have since confirmed to The Post that he is weighing out his options and possibilities following his bitter departure from the organization. 4 Prince Harry is mulling over the idea of starting a new charity following a high-profile fallout at Sentebale that saw him exit stage left. Getty Images 'The Duke remains absolutely committed to continuing the work he started, supporting the children and young people of Lesotho and Botswana, nearly 20 years ago,' Harry's rep said. 'In what form that support takes — no decisions have been made. All options remain on the table; whether that be starting a new charity or working to support pre-existing charities operating in the same sector in the region.' Last week, the Charity Commission for England and Wales announced that it discovered no evidence of 'widespread or systemic bullying, harassment, misogyny or misogynoir' at the organization. While the probe found no 'overreach' by Harry or Chandauka, it criticized both parties for allowing the dispute 'to play out publicly.' 4 The Duke of Sussex in March left his role as patron at the African charity, which he had co-founded with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho in 2006. Getty Images for Sentebale 4 Harry exited the charity following an internal dispute with the chair, Dr. Sophie Chandauka. Getty Images for Sentebale The Commission also pointed to poor internal governance at Sentebale and claimed that the pair's 'failure to resolve disputes internally severely impacted the charity's reputation and risked undermining public trust in charities more generally.' As a result, Harry, 40, issued a response in which he said it wasn't surprising the Commission found no evidence of wrongdoing at Sentebale, which he kick-started in honor of his late mother, Princess Diana. Follow The Post's royal family live blog for the latest pics, news, exclusive details and more On Thursday, the former working royal's reps told The Post that Harry is 'deeply upset' by the entire fiasco — though remains deeply concerned about the charity's overall mission. 'The Duke is, of course, deeply upset by this entire ordeal; though he remains absolutely committed to continuing the work he began 19 years ago — that being to support the children of Lesotho and Botswana living with HIV/AIDS and struggling with mental health issues,' his rep said. 4 Harry's reps confirmed to The Post that he is weighing out his options and possibilities following his bitter departure from the organization. Getty Images for Sentebale In a further twist to the drama, Sentebale last week called on the Charity Commission to provide clarity about its recent probe. The charity asked the investigating body to make it clear that its report did not specifically look into accusations of racism and misogyny directed at Harry.
Chicago Tribune
13 hours ago
- Chicago Tribune
Chicago Humanities Fall Festival faces the decline of the humanities with lineup including Margaret Atwood, Kate McKinnon
The Chicago Humanities Festival began in 1989. As the longtime nonprofit arts and culture organization announces its signature fall schedule this week, let us pause a moment and consider what a difference 36 years makes. That year, 1989 — not insignificant in the history of free expression in the United States — was the thick of the late 20th century 'culture wars.' Tipper Gore and the Parents Music Resource Center were entrenched. Robert Mapplethorpe (who died that March) and other transgressive artists provoked front-page outrage. Jesse Helms argued for 'family values' even as he sought to deny AIDS funding. The Supreme Court decided whether it was OK to burn American flags. The Moral Majority disbanded that year, but not before setting a table that led to budget cuts at the National Endowment for the Arts. You probably don't remember this part, those days long since obscured by much uglier times, but, in the end, only $45,000 of the NEA's $171 million proposed budget was cut. Three and a half decades later, the Chicago Humanities Festival faces a country in which universities, nevermind bureaucrats, want to demolish humanities curricula, and where many cultural institutions face a bleak future of almost zero public funding and the White House itself has made clear its intentions to eliminate the NEA altogether. How does an organization with 'humanities' right there in its name respond? By scheduling weeks of talks, readings and performances in the heart of some of the most impacted local communities. The day ends at Rockefeller Chapel with Nick Offerman, actor and Minooka native, on woodworking — but expect the never-politically-shy Offerman to weigh in on what ails us. On Sept. 21, the festival hosts a 'Pilsen/Little Village Day' throughout two of the Chicago neighborhoods most impacted by ICE raids. That day includes a chat with chef Rick Bayless and Jesse Valenciana, the Chicago-raised chef and journalist whose work focuses on Mexican cuisine. Also that afternoon, Cheech Marin (of Cheech & Chong) on Chicano art (and his California museum of art); and a conversation about Teen Angels magazine, the beloved (now defunct) zine often credited with spreading the culture of lowriders, tattoos and Latino aesthetics. On Oct. 13, the Morton Arboretum, to celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day, hosts Robin Wall Kimmerer, the Potawatomi member and famed botanist whose 'Braiding Sweetgrass,' a book of meditations on the environment, became an unlikely blockbuster. As for old-school activism: On Oct. 4, tucked into a lengthy day of events on the Bronzeville campus of Illinois Institute of Technology, there's Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Ensemble playing a composition for the famed intellectual and activist Angela Davis, followed by a chat with Davis. 'People can frame this (festival) however they want, I guess,' said Phillip Bahar, executive director of the Humanities Festival, 'but I don't think of what we do as go-march-in-the-street activism but closer to 'Here are a bunch of ideas relevant in our society and might be personally relevant within your family or community…' And so some of those events become political by chance. But we do focus on topics specific to the moment, and we do care about a diversity of ideas and those who shape ideas — left, right, female, male, any combination you can think. If we're trying to do a festival in Chicago that shows what the world is now, we have to reflect and show different sides.' Not that any of this means a lack of marquee names. Kate McKinnon returns to the festival; as does controversial statistician Nate Silver (both Oct. 4). Salman Rushdie — on a creative streak since recovering from his stabbing in 2022 — appears at the Athenaeum Center on Nov. 13. Margaret Atwood — whose speculative fiction gets less speculative by the day — appears Nov. 8. Roxane Gay talks about the 10th anniversary of her contemporary classic 'Bad Feminist' on Oct. 18; same day, Stephen Dubner talks about the 20th anniversary of 'Freakonomics.' As for local flavor, among other events, there's a conversation on architecture and society with the Floating Museum art collective (Oct. 4); walking tours of Bronzeville (Oct. 4) with Sherman 'Dilla' Thomas; the Lyric Opera performing 'Medea' (Oct. 18); and an afternoon festival in North Lawndale (Oct. 12) devoted to the design of sukkah, the temporary pavilions and structures created for the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. For decades, the festival's fall schedule was a beast, held largely across downtown venues and far too vast to expect anyone to catch even a modest number of offerings. Now it's a touch smaller. These days, Bahar said, their events — 80 to 100 a year — are divided almost equally between fall and spring schedules. He also noted that the kind of philanthropic funding that cultural organizations like his once relied on has been shifting away from the arts. Plus, after the pandemic, audiences just don't leave home as often. 'Now we feel like the right size,' he said. Staying relevant could be the easy part. There was a time, not long ago, when Harvard's Jill Lepore on the U.S. Constitution (Nov. 5) and Stephanie Burt on Taylor Swift (Oct. 18) and Padma Lakshmi on the food of American immigrant communities (Nov. 11) would be mostly about what it sounded like they are about. On Oct. 15, Cory Doctorow and Kara Swisher talk about the decline of almost everything. The air, in 2025, is too charged to take events like that at face value anymore. 'Novelist Gary Shteyngart (Oct. 18) just wrote a book about a family that's trying to stay together while everything around them is coming apart,' Bahar said. 'And look, I mean, I have no idea — no idea whatsoever — where he possibly got that idea from!'
