Belfast. A study in contradictions. Barbed wire and murals of masked gunmen stand out against residential buildings where children play in the front yards and flowers grow in window boxes. Poets, still perfectly articulate after three pints (that I counted), reading slam pieces about the exploitation of the working class, unemployment, and sectarian conflict back-to-back […]
Hey, Team Playwright! Hanna Slattnu of Tinderbox Theatre has asked that we each bring a small portable object that has a story behind it with us to our meeting with her tomorrow at the Municipal Arts Centre at 11:00. Hanna will describe Tinderbox’s mission and walk us through some exercises. We’ll probably class briefly afterwards, […]
I, Too, Sing America by: Langston Hughes I, too, sing America I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh, And eat well, And grow strong. Tomorrow, I’ll be at the table When company comes. Nobody’ll dare Say to me, “Eat in the kitchen,” Then. […]
Being an American means that on July 4th every people you watch fireworks, drink beer and wear red, white and blue. It also usually includes celebrating independence. Being an American means that people from other countries will ask you why your country consumes so much fast food. Being an American means having constant debates about […]
Traveling opens your eyes to the small differences that make us, as a people, who we are. In America, I don’t frequently think of myself as American qua American. I sport very little red, white and blue; I personally have not eaten a cheeseburger in probably four years; I get emotional while watching Fourth of […]
Huge portions. 32-oz soft drinks. Cheeseburgers, greasy pizza, and chili cheese fries. Salt. Paying for services you’ll never see. Our flat “O” accent. And in the case of being from Illinois, multiple arrested governors. These are my first thoughts when talking about being an American. But there’s so much more to it than […]
To be an American is to be free. It’s to be who you want to be. It’s to be whoever you want to be. To be an American is knowing you can make something of yourself. It’s to build your statue from scratch and pure innovation. To be an American is to be worth it. […]
A few days ago, I referred to my typically American sentiment to come here to “fix” Northern Ireland with a heavy-handed, judgmental political diatribe disguised as a play. Now that the Fourth of July is mere hours away here, I can’t help but reflect on the meaning of what it is to be an American, […]
I have received this very question on many assignments quite similar to this; but I will not regurgitate. Being American, except for the obvious ‘being born in the United States’ is to wander into situations that one does not fully understand and to adapt nevertheless. America’s protectionism of the past has completely disappeared since World […]
