Not An Alternative functions as props production, public relation and cultural production company. We assist community groups in the preparatory stages of their mobilizations. As every organizer on the Left is well aware, we live in climate of media black-outs. Non-lethal tools, including censorship, are used systematically by state and corporate agencies to contain and smother forms of dissent that do not fit into the pre-designed spaces allotted for the expression of "free speech". Against these limitations organizers are coming up with new ways to insert their messages into the public consciousness. Using street theater, for example, to make interventions on highly recognized symbols, stories, and events is an effective strategy employed more and more often today. With the success of The Yes Men, Greene Dragon, and Reverend Billy's theatrical interventions, it has become evident that the Left wing organizers' recent shift has opened up new pathways, making it possible to convey messages through obstacles otherwise blocked. Most significantly, the move toward the use of theatrical intervention as a technique jumps over the "independent" vs. "mainstream" binary by effectively incorporating both as vehicles used to convey messages.

Likely the single largest problem facing the Left has been its inability to build cohesion as a complex and inevitably contradictory collective body. As campaigns develop, more often than not, some organizers will find that their issue has been ignored and set aside by other organizers who have different issue-oriented goals. (For example the Left has often found itself split on issues that divide along labor vs. environmental fault-lines.) Not An Alternative's work attempts to directly addresses this problem by offering a culturally focused organizing strategy that avoids getting caught up in the distinctions between one issue vs. another. The logic that is inherent in the culturally focused organizing strategy is not tied to any one issue -- it is rather a logic that treats the contradictory nature of different issues as though they were part of a common battlefield. A focus on theatrical processes treats symbols, stories and events as vehicles whose meanings are available for hijacking. The aim of culturally focused organizing is to shift the meaning of symbols, stories and events associated with a campaign. When this strategy works it effectively means shifting the perception of the battlefield itself.

Not An Alternative also operates a multipurpose space called The Change You Want To See, based in Williamsburg, Brooklyn where they host lectures, screenings, presentations and workshops.

 

Below are images of a few of the actors that perform or have performed as Not An Alternative in the production of The Change You Want to See. Also included are short character descriptions that the individuals have written themselves.