US Election Day 2024

Today, 5 November, is election day in the US. More specifically, it’s the date of the Presidential election, among other races. It has been and odd year to watch the lead up to the race unfold from outside the US. I have been living in Canada since 2019, so I voted absentee in 2020, but in the context of the pandemic when so much was shut down, so the distance of 2020 didn’t feel the same.

This year, I'm more keenly aware of the distance, which takes on a kind of theatrical effect. Like many around the world, I’m deeply invested because of the clear stakes that will extend well beyond the US national borders. But, at the same time, the way the politics function today — and indeed, much of the news — encourages a certain kind of watching that is closely akin to the way we consume entertainment.

I don’t have any special insights on this and many others have written about this more compellingly than I can, so I’m linking to their work:

My colleague, Laura Levin, has been writing about politics and performance for the last decade. Her essay on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s campaign in 2015 is part of her anthology, Performance Studies in Canada, co-edited with Marlis Schweitzer. (Even if you’re not in Canada, it’s an important read for performance studies globally. Highly recommend!)

I also find Timothy Rafael’s The President Electric: Ronald Reagan and the Politics of Performance (2011) to be incredible useful to making sense of media politics. I recommended it in the context of the 2016 Presidential and continue to find it helpful to navigate how contemporary politics, including politicians and the media jointly perform.

Say what you will, theatre and performance studies appear more relevant than ever.