ARE WE GREAT AGAIN?

Object theater with a cheeseburger

When on January 6, 2021, the U.S. Capitol was stormed by supporters of then U.S. President Donald Trump, they vandalized and defiled the building, stole documents, and called for the then vice president to be hanged. All this went on for hours, almost unhindered by the few police officers who were present. In June of the previous year, when members of the Black Lives Matter movement protested against structural racism and the murder of George Floyd, the peaceful demonstrators were met with a large contingent of police in riot gear who were ordered to confront the protests with violence.

“Are We Great Again?” seeks to re-enact these incidents through the medium of object theater, and thereby foreground the role of the police, while the performer, or rather the incident commander, prepares that most North American of foods: a cheeseburger.