The view from the Idea Center

Cleveland’s consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice on police department reforms is a bloodless, jargon-filled document. But Raymond Bobgan saw a lot of drama in its 110 pages.
 
Bobgan, the executive artistic director of Cleveland Public Theatre (CPT), tells ideastream’s David C. Barnett he read it and wondered about its central premise, “this idea of legislating a change of heart, legislating change of culture.” He wanted a playwright to explore, on stage, how that would work, and whether it would work.
 
The resulting play, “ Breakout Session (or Frogorse)” by Nikkole Salter, does this through the lens of a business that’s competing for a contract with the city to provide anti-bias training for Cleveland’s police officers.
 
Salter developed her play by speaking with Clevelanders.
 
“I spoke with your mayor. I spoke with your chief of police. I spoke with your council members. I spoke with the heads of Black Lives Matter. I spoke with community members. I spoke with the heads of Community Policing,” she said at a recent forum at the City Club of Cleveland.
 
She said everyone talked about trust.   
 
“Let's get to the root of that. What is it? What is trust?” she said. “How do I trust you when I don’t perceive what you perceive and you don’t perceive what I perceive?” Especially when those perceptions are clouded by centuries of racist ideas?
 
“Politics,” columnist David Leonhardt argues in an op-ed on Bernie Sanders in today’s New York Times, “is inescapably performative.” He writes that voters “respond to gestures of respect from politicians who are willing to say, in effect:  We may not agree on everything, but I see you and understand what matters to you.”
 
“Breakout Session” takes the dry words of Cleveland’s consent decree, gives them a heartbeat and asks us whether we see, and understand.

See you bright and early tomorrow morning on the radio,
Amy Eddings

Need to KnOH

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Your ideas

Last week, we asked if you listen to podcasts and, if so, which ones are on your current play list. Charlene Mallory told our ideastream Public Square Facebook group, "I’ve just recently started listening to podcasts again, now that I am allowed to listen with headphones at work. I’m a long-time fan of ID10T podcast with Chris Hardwick, and I’ve recently discovered Getting Better with Ron Funches. I’m also a fan of several NPR-based ones, such as Hidden Brain."

Cleveland Public Theatre confronts the challenge of “legislating a change of heart” in a play inspired by the consent decree between Cleveland and the U.S. Department of Justice to reform police policies. Do you think that governance can cause people to have a change of heart that will, in this case, lead to creating a safer community for all citizens? Call us at  (216) 916-6476, comment on our Facebook page or join the conversation in Public Square. We'll feature some of your thoughts and comments here in Noon(ish) and on Morning Edition.