“N/A” playwright Mario Correa on the power of removing labels from politics

I’ve never met anyone who didn’t already have a hard and fast opinion about Nancy Pelosi or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
So when I set out to write a play inspired by the tumultuous relationship between the first woman Speaker of the House and the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, I knew my characters would remain nameless: “N” and “A.”
In our incredibly polarized nation, even someone’s name can cause us to shut down, to close off.
Pelosi. AOC. Trump.
Still with me?
There is power in a name. But there is power in putting a name – a label – aside.
My first job was in politics, as an aide for a Congresswoman named Connie Morella. She was, and is, a Republican. She is also a liberal. Yeah, that used to be a thing. 
I loved my boss and my job. But just by working for a “Republican,” I’d soon be labeled, too. Unknowingly, I’d picked a side.
I got out of politics.
Fast forward to after our show: A man in the audience – a big theater lover – tells me he’s just returned from a week in Milwaukee. “I bet I’m the only person here,” he whispers, “who just came back from nominating Trump.”
A Trump-loving theater-geek. As labels go, unexpected!  
Over the next few months, we’re going to hear a lot of labels thrown around. “Childless cat ladies” barely scratches the surface.
Maybe one day, our politics will be less prone to labels and name-calling. Maybe we’ll even get back to a time when just hearing a person’s name doesn’t end a conversation.
(Maybe…)
       For more info:
     Story produced by Annie Iezzi. Editor: George Pozderec.