6 Shows About American Democracy to Keep You Occupied on Election Day (and the Days After)

This election cycle has been exhausting, we know. With the ceaseless distractions that currently fill our lives, it can feel impossible to find the time to sit and think, let alone consider the complexities of American democracy for longer than the text of an X/Twitter thread.

Hear us out, though. Theater was made for a moment like this. Theater allows us the time and space to work through complicated subjects without distraction – no tweetstorms, no breaking news. Theater can even inspire us to be hopeful about the future of democracy — and our ability to affect it!

So once you’ve cast your ballot — if you haven’t yet, what are you waiting for? — consider this: instead of wringing your hands as polling results roll in, or tracking the next political scandal with one eye on your phone and the other on your laptop, take a few hours off and allow yourself to enjoy some theater. Maybe even put your phone in another room.

1. What the Constitution Means to Me

Where do American rights come from? How does the Constitution work as a legal document to protect its citizens — and how has it failed? Heidi Schreck’s What the Constitution Means to Me — both a Tony Award nominee and a Pulitzer finalist — dives into these questions head-first. Schreck’s (mostly) solo play is supremely witty and bittersweet, giving voice to the complex people and stories behind the most impactful lines of legislation in American government. Deftly directed for video by Marielle Heller (Can You Ever Forgive Me, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood), the play powerfully asserts the personal stakes that live between the lines of American law.

What the Constitution Means to Me is available for streaming here.

2. Walks of Life

How well do you really know your neighbors? Walks of Life, a series of audio plays by La Jolla Playhouse and the Blindspot Collective, might just give you the opportunity to learn more about them. Each play presents a small fictionalized snippet from the lives of people in your community you may not have met yet. Listen in on a mother regaling her daughter with stories of the Egyptian music of her youth; walk a few blocks down the street and catch a teenage daughter using scientific research to try and keep her parents from divorcing. These slice-of-life plays are intimate without being schlocky, and give a real sense of what diversity means in everyday life.

Walks of Life is available for listening here.

3. American Utopia

Even if you aren’t even slightly aware of David Byrne’s illustrious music and performance career, I implore you to check out American Utopia. Masterfully directed for the screen by Spike Lee, the rock spectacle is performance art piece and marching band parade rolled up into one. Fans of Talking Heads certainly won’t be disappointed, but Byrne and his band present something larger than a greatest hits concert: They embody the promise and possibility of a society that embraces inclusion. If you look close enough, you might even find that society in your own backyard.

American Utopia is available for streaming on HBO Max. Watch the trailer here.

4. Shipwreck

The President of the United States requests your presence for dinner this evening. Anne Washburn’s Shipwreck, a dive into the Cult of Trump and the liberals obsessed with it, is now available as a podcast. Directed and adapted for audio by Saheem Ali and produced by the Public Theater, the play juxtaposes two dinner parties: one, thrown by a group of liberal friends in a Vermont cabin; the other being the now-infamous dinner between Donald Trump (played by Bill Camp) and then-FBI Director James Comey (played by Joe Morton) in which the president threatened Comey’s job. The play exposes the deepest liberal insecurities, particularly in its portrayal of Trump. It forces the audience to consider the possibility Trump is exactly the all-powerful strongman he claims to be.

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.

5. Hamilton

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s revolutionary musical explores the life of founding father Alexander Hamilton, touching on themes of immigration, legacy, and the foundations of American government. Its unique blend of hip-hop, R&B, and traditional Broadway styles makes it both educational and highly entertaining.

A filmed version of the original Broadway cast is available on Disney+.

6. Best of Enemies

Zachary Quinto and David Harewood star as “unruly liberal” Gore Vidal and “cunningly conservative” William F. Buckley Jr. in this drama by playwright James Graham. Taking place between the Republican and Democratic party conventions in 1968, it’s a fictionalized retelling of the televised debates between the two literary titans as a new frontier in American politics is beginning to open.

Stream here via National Theatre at Home.