American Dreams: Imagining an America where everyone has what they need …

We created a two-hour civic theatre event: a community meal followed by a performance and audience conversation around the narrative “Together Everyone Thrives.”

Our audience left feeling deeply satisfied for the public space to engage with strangers and friends in a civil, creative conversation about our nation’s past, present, and future.

Takeaways

• People felt pushed and pulled—deeply skeptical of the narrative yet wanting to hold onto some optimism and hope. This was especially true at the community level, helping to offset what seems impossible at the national level.
• While most attendees identified as progressive, a libertarian conservative joined and shared that many people place the role and rights of the individual above any obligation to the collective, and that the narrative is antithetical to how many people view the founding principles and aspirations of this country. He came up two different times after the event to thank us for the “opportunity to be heard and be in this conversation” in his community.”
• Spreading this narrative requires credible sources, community coalitions, relationship-building, and civic education. In those contexts, this narrative could be material for dialogue and exploration. Without that, the narrative is not an especially useful tool in this moment of polarized national discourse and enmity.