Portraits: Voices of a People

Wednesday night I had the honor of seeing NYU's production of Portraits: Voices of a People. When I decided to go, it was only to see Stanley Tucci, which was the general consensus of the majority of my peers. I was incredibly and pleasantly surprised therefore, to witness a show that was unlike any I have seen, and that moved me.

Portraits is the effort of Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove in conjunction with various actors, performers, writers, and activists. "Voices employs live performances as well as education programs based on primary source materials to bring to life the extraordinary history of the ordinary people who struggled to right the wrongs of their day and built the movements that made the United Staes what it is today." In short, it was a presentation of various primary sources ranging from the 1500's to present day that exemplified the counter history of America, which in my opinion, is the true history of America. The entire cast was incredible (and with incredible credentials to boot) and I wish I had gotten a snap of all of them, but here are some favorites.

{Stanley Tucci reading an excerpt from a piece by Howard Zinn (left). Regie Cabico "fainting" after receiving a hug from Tucci... wouldn't we all? (right)}

 {Tallie and I before the show (we stood in line for two hours to get third row seats (left). Brian Jones reciting Jermain Loguen's letter to Sarah Logue. (left)}


Aside from simply entertaining me, Portraits confirmed my long standing feelings about the missing link between education, morality, and society, that link being performance art. Performance, whether it be recitation, dance, song, or my chosen method, theater, is the universal equalizer and educator. It stimulates all the senses and presents information that, in our culture and media centered world, can stand on it's own. I have learned more about history, the world, and myself through performing and more importantly witnessing performances than I ever have in school. My experiences in Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson and The Laramie Project specifically, have not only boosted my resume, but made me a more empathetic and knowledgable contributor to humanity. Hearing these performers recite the words of such famous rebels and innovators made history come alive in a way that can never be achieved through reading from a book, highlighter in hand, searching for a grade. If we are really to educate our youth, if we are to make them care about where they come from and where they are going, a compromise of medium must be made. My goal as an actress is not only to entertain, but to educate, and education should never be boring.