Emma Goldman's Chicago Hideout

by John R. Schmidt on WBEZ's Chicago History Today blog.

She was called the mastermind behind the murderous attack of September '01. And she was somewhere in Chicago. 

4th Wave Feminism

Episode Six has arrived! Listen to Sara and Jason's podcast on descriptive representation (part of which was recorded live at New Suit Theatre's Informathon in May). Let us know what you thought by posting a comment here on the blog, on New Suit's Facebook page or in iTunes.

Listen to it here: What does a 4th wave feminist want to see when he or she opens the doors of the Senate in a 4th wave feminist world? or subscribe on iTunes.

Political Theatre

If you are a lover of theatre and aren't yet familiar with howlround.com, I encourage you to check it out.  There are brilliant discussions from theatre artists about many topics affecting theatre today--including the Mike Daisey controversy, women in theatre, and new plays vs. the classics, among many others.  Be sure to check out this one, an article by Karen Malpede on political theatre.

There were some fascinating questions raised in the article and the comments.  As a theatre company that tackles difficult--and quite often political--issues, we are interested in hearing what you think.

1)  Is political theatre a dying art?  As many have stated, theatre was often the most prominent and effective way to begin a discussion, especially in ancient times.  Now, however, we have television, movies, radio, newspapers, and blogs--political commentary and discussion is everywhere.  We can sit in our own homes and watch or read or listen or type on the computer and engage in the discussion.  Is theatre still a relevant contributer to the discussion?

2)  Is political theatre being censored?  In many societies, political theatre was a subversive way to spread ideas that were being censored by governments.  Is that necessary in America?  Are we already hearing the message through media?  Even if the message is being heard everywhere, is that reason enough for theatre to leave it alone?  Do you find that theatre companies do political theatre, or do they stay away?

3)  Are political plays not as good as regular plays?  Do you agree that the characters, emotions, and story should be stronger than the message, or can a good play consist of a message stronger than the story?

4)  Should political plays portray only one "true" view of the issue, or should there be a respectful discussion presenting both sides?  I find that people who are willing to change their mind on an issue are becoming rarer and rarer these days--beliefs seem to coincide with our identities, and being willing to ponder and issue and change your beliefs is seen as weakness, or "waffling," or someone who has no convictions.  Anyone who believes differently is often seen as wrong.  I believe that there can be no discussion without understanding, and that minds don't change without understanding and a respectful discussion.  Taking one point of view and asserting it as the correct one can lead to audiences full of patrons who agree with you, and those who don't agree either don't see the play, or don't engage in a meaningful discussion about it.  What do you think?

5)  Ms. Malpede asserts that there is a long list of political issues that will not be addressed on institutional or commercial stages.  Do you agree?  Luckily, there are many stages that are neither institutional or commercial, and New Suit has produced plays about climate change and the Iraq War while being a storefront, not-for-profit theatre.  Does the lack of commercial and institutional stages producing this work mean the work is not valid?  Do you see it is an example of censorship in the American theatre?

6)  Are our views on this subject affected by the fact that we are a not-for-profit company producing work, and Ms. Malpede is a playwright creating the work?  Does this lead to a difference in the way we see the issues presented?  Does our not-for-profit statues lead us to view producability differently that a commercial producer?  Than an audience?  Than an artistic director needing a successful season?

New Suit's mission is to explore perplexing and complicated issues and make them accessible through compelling storytelling. We do not accept the premise that the important issues affecting our lives are ever too complicated to approach in an engaging manner.  To that end, we will continue to produce exceptional plays with ideas worth hearing, and continue to promote discussion in our community.

What are your thoughts on the article?

Informathon

We had a fantastic turnout for the Informathon last night!  Were you there?  What did you think?

If you were intrigued by Sara and Jason's podcasting, don't forget to check out the previous episodes here.  The episode on ethical porn is up!

Be sure to tell us what you think in the comments.

More episodes of Sara and Jason's podcast 4th Wave Feminism are up!
Check them out and post your comments here on our blog.

Coming soon this Spring:





Email us at newsuittheatre@gmail.com to get involved, or for more information.

Fourth Wave

Well, Sizzle is now closed, and New Suit Theatre Company is deep into planning our fourth season.  We'll be announcing the upcoming season soon, but until then, we'll try to whet your New Suit appetite with a brand new podcast from company members Sara and Jason, called Fourth Wave Feminism.  Give the first episode a listen, and let us know what you think!


Fourth Wave Feminism Podcast

Skeptic Finds He Now Agrees Global Warming is Real

Check out this article by Seth Borenstein.

A prominent physicist and skeptic of global warming spent two years trying to find out if mainstream climate scientists were wrong. In the end, he determined they were right: Temperatures really are rising rapidly.

Richard Muller started out as a skeptic and now is a believer in climate change.  Interestingly, a quarter of his research money came from the Charles Koch Foundation, whose founder gives funding to the tea party and skeptic groups.

What do you think?

Be sure to get up to the Raven Theatre and see Sizzle and join us in the conversation!

Kickstarter page

Be sure to check out our Kickstarter page, which makes it easier than ever to donate to New Suit!

Experts and Global Warming

Check out Gary Gutting's article from the New York Times Opinionater blog, titled On Experts and Global Warming.  Gary Gutting is a professor of philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, and is writing articles for the NYT that apply philosophy to current events.  In this article--you guessed it--he applies philosophy to global warming.

What does he have to say about it?

First, Gutting looks at the experts:  who are the experts, and what is their consensus? 

Consider, for example, current discussions about climate change, specifically about whether there is long-term global warming caused primarily by human activities (anthropogenic global warming or A.G.W.).  All creditable parties to this debate recognize a group of experts designated as “climate scientists,” whom they cite in either support or opposition to their claims about global warming.  In contrast to enterprises such as astrology or homeopathy, there is no serious objection to the very project of climate science.  The only questions are about the conclusions this project supports about global warming.

There is, moreover, no denying that there is a strong consensus among climate scientists on the existence of A.G.W. — in their view, human activities are warming the planet.  There are climate scientists who doubt or deny this claim, but even they show a clear sense of opposing a view that is dominant in their discipline.

Gutting's argument is that, when a consensus has been reached by experts, "nonexperts are in no position to argue against the consensus of scientific experts."  When the majority of climate scientists believe that the planet is warming as a result of our activities, who are we to know better than the experts?  Well, what about the experts that disagree with the consensus?  Can't we believe their opinion?

As long as [nonexperts] accept the expert authority of the discipline of climate science, they have no basis for supporting the minority position.  Critics within the community of climate scientists may have a cogent case against A.G.W., but, given the overall consensus of that community, we nonexperts have no basis for concluding that this is so.  It does no good to say that we find the consensus conclusions poorly supported.  Since we are not experts on the subject, our judgment  has no standing.

Since climate scientists agree that global warming exists and is increased by human actions, those of us that aren't climate scientists can only accept the premise, since we aren't truly able to judge the position ourselves. 

What do you think?  Tell us in the comments below, and don't forget to check out Sizzle this fall!

HOT COMEDY NIGHT

New Suit Theatre Company presents a night of stand-up comedy.  The planet's getting hot and these comics are gonna Sizzle!  This will be New Suit's latest fundraiser and celebration for our upcoming show, Sizzle: A Global Warming Comedy.

Hot Comedy Night

Presented at Mary's Attic (Above Hamburger Mary's in Andersonville)
5400 N. Clark St.
Chicago, IL
Date TBD: Sept 2nd or 3rd, 7-9pm

$10 donation at the door for a night of laughs spent with good people.  All ages welcome, but please bring your ID if you plan to drink at the bar.  Mary's Attic will be reserved for New Suit and its audience from 7pm to 9pm.  The party won't stop at 9, that's just when they let the general public in to join in the merriment!

Don't forget to buy your raffle tickets!  For The Informathon, we gave away awesome prizes like:
-A Hybrid Schwinn bike
-Artwork by local artists
-Gift certificates to local shops
-A stay at a bed and breakfast
-A free tattoo
-Tickets to our shows
We'll have more awesome prizes for our Hot Comedy Night!

Want to be a part of Hot Comedy Night?
Are you a stand-up comedian, or have you always wanted to be?  Contact us at newsuittheatre@gmail.com to join us and perform your set!

Hope to see you there!

Real-life JedIraq?

Did you see our production of JedIraq?  Did you ever want to do what Keandra did--go to Iraq and learn about the situation yourself?

Check out this story about an Arizona bus tour.  If you've ever wanted to know more about illegal immigration and drug-smuggling over the US/Mexico border, try the Gray Line Tours' "Border Crisis:  Fact or Fiction." 

For just $89, tourists can watch US Borders and Custom Protection inspectors and have lunch with an officer, meet with a rancher whose land is on the border, and visit produce importers who need to get produce over the border before it goes bad.

What do you think?  Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Squidoo page

Be sure to check out our page on Squidoo!

science vs politics

Our fall show Sizzle hopes to start a discussion on science.  Is it pure and unadulterated, or can it be sullied by money, politics, and ulterior motives?  What is happening when science seems to disagree with itself on the same subject?  What happens when we look to science for facts and get theories instead?  How can interpretation of scientific results be so hotly debated? 

The growing controversies of climate change, evolution vs creationism, and even food science indicate a credibility crisis for science.  People are looking at the same sets of facts and seeing different, contradictory results, making it hard to know what is true.  This is surprising for a field whose cornerstone is the scientific process--a process that supposedly finds repeatable, irrefutable answers.  Instead, we seem to be finding questions.  And the forefront of the questioners are politicians.  Check out this interesting article on politics and climate change, specifically about the shifting positions of many Republican presidential hopefuls.

What do you think the shifting positions indicate about science?  Do you think science is suffering a credibility crisis, or do you think it has always been up to debate?  Share your thoughts in the comments.

Informathon

Don't forget about the Informathon on Saturday, June 4!  Join us at Mary's Attic at 5400 N. Clark St. at 7pm for a drink and a little learning.

In the words of our Artistic Director, Jason Burkett:

New Suit Theatre Company is having a small benefit to support it's upcoming show "Sizzle: A Global Warming Comedy". It's basically an evening of drinking at the famous Hamburger Mary's Attic, that will be periodically interrupted by 3-5 minute presentations that are both informative and highly entertaining.
 
Some of these presentations will be experts discussing the Real History of the Titanic, short informational videos from people we've never met, and even a Master's Thesis on the gender imbalances from Lobotomy's heyday. (I know! That's what I said!)
 
We really hope you can make it out to this great event, have a drink with us, and help support our tiny start up theatre company! We think you're awesome!

If you can't make it, but want to send a donation, please visit our "Support Us" page at the following link:

http://newsuittheatre.com/support.html

Hope to see you there!

Sizzle: A Global Warming Comedy

It's official!  Sizzle:  A Global Warming Comedy will be performing at the Raven Theatre from October 15 through November 13. 

In the spirit of global warming, check out this opinion article in the New York Times.  The article's authors, Daniel C. Esty and Michael E Porter, suggest a charge for each ton of greenhouse gasses released in emissions. 

. . . [T]he main goal is. . . to create a powerful incentive for a gradual but steady shift toward clean and sustainable energy sources. In the short term, an emissions charge would create a major impetus for a move from oil and coal to natural gas, with its much lower carbon content. Gas would likely become the preferred fuel for new power generation, and by extension, for transportation, as electric vehicles become cost-effective alternatives to internal combustion cars.

What do you think?  Cap-and-trade?  Emissions charge?  Let companies do what they want?  Let us know your thoughts!

Informathon

Coming to Mary’s Attic on June 4th, New Suit Theatre’s Informathon is an entertaining and educational multimedia event featuring company, community, and audience members sharing their expertise in fun and informative ways.

New Suit Theatre’s mission is to explore perplexing and complicated issues and make them accessible through compelling storytelling.

In the spirit of that mission, we are reaching out to our community to bring audiences the latest in the compelling exploration of complicated issues.

Do you have an informative story to tell? We want to help you share it!  Check out our page for more information.

Trans Form Round Up

We might have closed Trans Form, but the learning never stops!  Rebecca Kling took a moment to answer a couple of the questions she heard most often during the post-show talkbacks.  See these questions and answers below.

"What would happen if you were on a deserted island and couldn't take hormones?"

There are two issues to consider if I stopped taking hormones. First, and most simply, the physical effects. Right now, I'm taking testosterone blockers (to help negate the testosterone my body is producing) and estrogen (to help push my body toward the hormonal norm for women). As such, blood tests taken on me right now would show a hormonally normal and balanced woman: lots of estrogen, a little testosterone. The effects of that have been physical and emotional: I grew boobs, lost some muscle mass, my body hair thinned out a bit, and I've become more emotional.

Were I to stop taking those pills, my hormone balance would slowly start shifting toward typical male: mostly testosterone, some estrogen. My breasts would 'deflate' a little - though not a ton - and I'd regain some of that muscle mass I lost. Likewise, my body hair would become a bit more aggressive, and my emotions would swing back from easily expressed to slightly more difficult to access. These are all pretty objective measures, and something I'm comfortable stating with some certainty.

From a mental health perspective, though, it's much harder to determine exactly what would happen. My living and presenting as Rebecca, as who I know myself to be, has been a huge boon to how I feel about myself. I realize that identity isn't 100% related to my physical body, but certainly some of it is. As such, were I to stop taking hormones, I'm confident my mental health status would begin to plummet back towards feelings of depression and suicide. Whether I would give into them would probably depend on the situation: if I felt there was a good chance of being rescued from the island, I'd try to stick it out. If I believed I could never go back on hormones, there's a good chance I would take my own life.

In this way, I like the analogy of being on hormones like being on insulin for diabetics. There's less of an obvious correlation between taking the pills and being healthy, yes, but there is a direct connection between my being on hormones and having good - and not suicidal - mental health.

"How can we teach this story and make it accessible to younger children?"

The trans narratives available to younger children aren't overwhelming, but some do exist. For little ones, books like 10,000 Dresses and My Princess Boy explicitly deal with trans narratives at a youth-appropriate level. For slightly older students, books like Almost Perfect and My Gender Workbook deal with issues of gender at an age-appropriate level. In film, It's Elementary and Bullied are two movies that deal with school-age issues of sexuality, though neither are appropriate for really young children.

Beyond that, any book or movie about someone attempting to impose an identity on another can be linked to a discussion of gender and being able to chose ones gender, rather than allowing it to be imposed. 

As much as it's often scary or uncomfortable for adults to discuss issues of gender and sexuality with children, children are already thinking about and dealing with them. Not discussing them doesn't actually 'protect' children from these issues, it just leaves them ignorant.

"What peer support is out there?"

Unfortunately, this is an answer that depends on where you live. In the Chicago area, The Broadway Youth Center and Pride Youth on the north shore. Online, AntiJen and the AntiJen listserv are great places to start. Beyond that, looking into local Gay-Straight Alliances or pride organizations, as well as contacting the above organizations and asking for resources closer to your geographic area.
 

Links, orgs, and books recommended by Rebecca
-Illinois Safe School Alliance -The Transgender Child:  A Handbook for Families and Professionals (book)
-Almost Perfect (novel)

-Genderspectrum.org

-Howard Brown: The Broadway Youth Center

-Pride Youth

Do you have any questions for Rebecca, or any other resources we should know about?  Let us know!  Email us at questions4newsuit@gmail.com.

Closing

Trans Form closed today!  Thank you so much to everyone who came to the show and participated in the talkbacks!  If you still have questions for anyone involved in the show, be sure to email us at questions4newsuit@gmail.com.

Stay tuned for news about our upcoming show, Sizzle:  A Global Warming Comedy, written by Sara Gmitter and Jason Burkett, based on the film by Dr. Randy Olson.

New Suit Theatre Co. is proud to present its third show Sizzle: A Global Warming Comedy in Fall 2011.  This hilarious and inspiring adaptation of the acclaimed film brings the climate change discussion to the next level for skeptics and believers alike. Follow filmmaker-scientist Randy Olson as he struggles to make a documentary that grapples with the the timeless question, "If science won't convince people, what will?" Don't miss a spectacular evening that will have you holding your sides while placing you in the driver's seat of the world's most important debate.

Final Weekend

We hope everyone had wonderful holidays, and is enjoying the first Chicago snowfall of the season!

Trans Form is entering into its final weekend of shows.  Be sure to see it before it closes on December 5.  You can find information on tickets here.

We hope to see you there!