Through our recent research with Theater & Policy Salon, a member of our Incubator for Creative Impact, it seems that audiences in the Washington, D.C. metro area are becoming increasingly interested in hard-hitting topical plays. Whether it is because of the urgency of this moment in U.S. and global politics due to rising nationalist sentiments or antiracist movements, our research unearthed the potential for the political to not only come center stage but to become the center of an experience which navigates the intersections of fiction and fact as themes from the play are explored by experts and creatives at post-show talk-backs.

LEGO takes a holistic view when it comes to reimagining learning by highlighting the ways in which children’s physical, social, cognitive, creative and emotional skills complement and interact with one another through play. When these skills are being successfully cultivated, it makes an essential truth of the arts and culture field abundantly clear: creativity matters! To drive this point home, the LEGO Foundation is publishing a series of reports that “convene a broad spectrum of viewpoints and opinions focused on creativity in education systems.” Their most recent report is Creating Creators.

Whether it be through campaigns to educate and encourage participation in the census, through movements to celebrate the vote by encouraging musicians to play at polling places, through art contests which rally the youth vote, artists have leaned into the extraordinary circumstances of 2020 to not only keep making art, but to make meaning through their art, either for themselves or their communities.

As arts, culture, and creativity have been proven to boost individual and community well-being, lack of access to them inherently hinders the development of a more just and equitable society. After all, how can we express ourselves if we have not been taught how to write creatively? How can we embrace differences if the only stories we’re told are our own?

Through our recent research with Theater & Policy Salon, a member of our Incubator for Creative Impact, it seems that audiences in the Washington, D.C. metro area are becoming increasingly interested in hard-hitting topical plays. Whether it is because of the urgency of this moment in U.S. and global politics due to rising nationalist sentiments or antiracist movements, our research unearthed the potential for the political to not only come center stage but to become the center of an experience which navigates the intersections of fiction and fact as themes from the play are explored by experts and creatives at post-show talk-backs.