ACTIVISM - Response to Colt's prompt #9

An issue of social importance in our community that comes to mind is the recent push for Baton Rogue to split into two cities: Baton Rouge and St. George. More than 18,000 residents of suburbs in south Baton rouge have signed a petition calling the creation of this new city. The proponents of this movement claim that they want to improve the quality of their local schools and have better control of where their tax dollars are going. This taxpayers in this area contribute about two thirds of the funds of East Baton Rouge Parish.

Many opponents argue that this proposal has other motivations. The newly proposed St. George would be 70% white and the largely poor community in the rest of Baton Rouge would have to endure huge cuts to education because of this loss of taxpayer revenue.

 This story has received international attention from many news outlets.

I am in opposition of this movement. 

 I think the the more media and internet attention this story receives, the less support it has going for it. Although this may not apply to all of the petition signers, it seems that some of these supporters may have good intentions, but don't take into consideration the people that it would negatively affect. If they could see the hardships that these people already endure, maybe they will think twice about making their lives and their children's futures.

This protest would reach a conclusion when the proposal is denied, as I suspect it likely will. This is a concerning development that I will keep my attention focused on.

TIME - Response to Ashley's post prompt #8

The "reality effect" is reinforced by the time and pace of the various types of theatre in varying ways. The twitter plays can have a very fast pace because reading twitter conversations allow the reader to feel like they're part of the action, reading along as the events are simultaneously happening. 

This reminds me of a time when I was reading conversations and reports on twitter while a high profile news case was unfolding. In April of 2013, the tragic Boston Marathon bombings occurred. Three days after the bombing, I was noticing some strange reports on my twitter feed about a carjacking in a neighborhood of Boston, and that 'crude grenades' were being thrown out of the vehicle. 
I just happened to be out with some friends that night, and I obsessively would refresh my feed to stay updated. I was updating my friends constantly, and as we know today, that carjacking, police chase, firefight, and eventual manhunt and capture was all linked to the bombing, days earlier.
Reading news reports on my twitter feed and staying updated to the second made me feel like I was part of the experience, even though I was in a bar in Baton Rouge, not in Boston. The pace started slowly, but quickly accelerated and I couldn't keep away from my phone to see what would happen next.

I think that if a performance artist wanted to experiment with the "right here, right now" of theatre, he or she could set up an exhibit in which they were in a room that was visible from all sides to the audience. The room could be set up as a kitchen or bedroom and the artist's actions would be determined by a twitter feed that the audience controlled. The audience would dictate the artist's actions, and could argue and cancel each other's commands out.
I would definitely feel like I was part of the experience as an audience member in that environment.