Street Theater Brings Baghdad to NYC

Katrina Caudle
debbie2.jpg

Astra Taylor and Laura Hanna have cut a 3-minute mini video about "Operation First Casualty," a spectacle staged by a half-dozen members of Iraq Veterans Against the War. This Memorial Day action simulated the veterans' war experiences to unsuspecting bystanders in Manhattan. By performing mini-dramas that simulated ducking from sniper fire, checking for I.E.D.s, and holding mock arrests of Iraqis, the veterans hoped to bring the reality of the war into the public eye while reminding people that Memorial Day is more than just shopping and barbecues.

 

Images: Creative Commons, Debbie, http://www.pbase.com/sms/101st_airborne

Comments

Dreaming the Ethical Spectacle

Submitted by Talat Jonathan Phillips on Tue, 06/26/2007 - 10:59.
If any of you have read Stephen Duncombe's book, "Dream: Re-imagining politics in the age of fantasy," this is the perfect example of an "ethical spectacle" - an event that uses the flash and flare of media and advertising but to get across an important message. It's surprising just how moving it is to see soldiers in our streets engaging in wartime tactics surrounded by civilians.