Hartford’s theaters joined The Ghostlight Project on Thursday evening, with gatherings at The Bushnell, Hartford Stage, HartBeat Ensemble’s Carriage House Theater, Sea Tea Comedy Theater, TheaterWorks, and Wadsworth Atheneum.
These actions — taking place across the country on the eve of the Presidential Inauguration — intended for “artists and communities [to] make or renew a pledge to stand for and protect the values of inclusion, participation, and compassion for everyone–regardless of race, class, religion, country of origin, immigration status, (dis)ability, age, gender identity, or sexual orientation.”
In Hartford, this looked like people sipping free hot cocoa outside of the Wadsworth Atheneum while listening to a performance by Nzinga’s Daughters. Flashlights were passed around and participants walked as a group to Sea Tea Comedy Theater a few blocks away. They sang “This Land Is My Land” as they waited to be joined by a group walking over from TheaterWorks. That contingent made its way up the sidewalk with one of Anne Cubberly’s giant puppets. Inside the theater, people mingled and wrote down what they were committed to do to create a better world. Across town at HartBeat Ensemble, participants wrote their pledges on lanterns and then released them.
The actions continue today with a Resistance Rally gathering at City Hall at 4 p.m., and on Saturday at 1 p.m. with the Women’s March on Hartford at the State Capitol.
