ABOUT THE MONOLOGUE
Like many of us, I was reeling after the election, perhaps more numb than despondent, when I happened upon the Russian phrase for Internal Exile. It struck a chord and got me through those first days. I really thought that's all it would do - get me through those first days, but I'm still holding onto it and find myself in a writing frenzy. Yes, DT was bad for arts the first time around and will doubtless be worse the second. That just makes it all the more important that writers continue to write, that painters continue to paint, that poets continue to ... Well, you get the idea. We're going to see some beautiful art made these next four years.
Author's website:
www.spokesinthewheel.com and - Coleman | New Play Exchange
~ Excerpt published by permission, all rights held by the playwright.
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Russian artists have a phrase for it: vnutrennaya emigratsia, or internal exile. It’s how they have managed to survive under Putin. They can’t actually emigrate (well, most of them can’t anyway). So they emigrate internally. They exile inside themselves.Some people have said that means they are escaping reality, but that’s not right. They know full well what their reality is. There is no hiding the reality of oppression. There is no escape from it. And yet ... these Russian artists defy that oppression by acting as though they are not oppressed. They write their stories, paint their paintings, craft their poetry, compose their music and sing their songs – without regard for the autocrats who would silence them.Fuck the bastards.
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Fascism update: Wall Street Journal editorial calls Trump tariffs ‘dumbest trade war in history’