#anti bbb

[castielsprostate]

Maar 7/10 van de grootste partijen tekenen stembusakkoord (link naar NU artikel)

Het is SCHANDALIG dat in 2024 er nog steeds partijen tegen LHBTI+ rechten zijn. Hoe durven jullie te praten, als oude witte kutten, over onze levens? De tolerantie voor LHBTI+ers daalt al jaren, waardoor we nu op nr 14 staan van the European Rainbow Index.

In Nederland mag conversie therapie nog STEEDS plaatsvinden, niet heteroseksuele koppels krijgen IVF NIET vergoed vanuit de zorgverzekering. Gender reconstructie op intersex babies is NOG STEEDS legaal.

Op 6 juni zijn de verkiezingen van het Europees Parlement, ga stemmen! Dit is je recht, en je plicht in de democratie.

↓english below the cut ↓

It is OUTRAGEOUS that in 2024 there are still parties against LGBTI+ rights. How dare you talk, like old white cunts, about our lives? Tolerance for LGBTI+ people has been declining for years, so we are now at number 14 on the European Rainbow Index.

In the Netherlands, conversion therapy is STILL allowed, non-heterosexual couples are NOT reimbursed for IVF by health insurance. Gender reconstruction on intersex babies is STILL legal.

The European Parliament elections are on June 6th, go vote! This is your right, and your duty in a democracy.

[9misorai]

I just wanna see Kaizo apologizes to Fang.

To be completely honest, I really dont care how bbb would do at the end of this arc like using new fusion lah or new 3rd tier lah i can't force myself to care. I just want to see Kira'na's words having effect on Kaizo and he's finally feeling some kind of remorse and guilt and is finally voicing the word "sorry" to Fang.

Bonus point if Fang didn't accept it and blurts out every single thing Kaizo had done to him, but knowing mnsta I don't think I can expect that high.

[veradragonjedi]

@airlocksandaviaries

Hot tip: don’t fuck your breakfast

[autism-corner]

help me make a body-altering decision

[mariacallous]

Dutch anti-Islam populist leader Geert Wilders has abandoned his bid to become prime minister, despite his party's dramatic victory in the 2023 elections.

"I can only become prime minister if ALL parties in the coalition support it. That was not the case," he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

His Freedom Party (PVV) won the most votes last year - but needed support of other parties to form a coalition.

Marathon talks with three other parties look to have failed.

The negotiator leading the latest round of talks which concluded on Tuesday, is due to share his report with parliament on Thursday.

"I would like a right-wing cabinet. Less asylum and immigration. Dutch on 1. The love for my country and voter is great and more important than my own position," Mr Wilders wrote in his post on Wednesday evening.

Mr Wilders, 60, has spent months in talks with the VVD, NSC and BBB parties to try and form a coalition government.

The leaders of those three insisted this week that the only way they would be willing to move forward was if all four party leaders agreed not to take a role in the government, according to Dutch public broadcaster NOS.

It was not immediately clear if a compromise figure for the prime minister's post has emerged.

A parliamentary debate on the issue is expected on Thursday.

The PVV's victory last year not only shook Dutch politics, but had repercussions across Europe as the Netherlands is one of the founding members of what is now the European Union.

[beardedmrbean]

The Netherlands' right-wing coalition government announced on Wednesday plans to opt out from EU-wide rules on asylum and migration.

It comes after the Dutch government unveiled stricter immigration policy.

What did the Dutch government say about the exemption request?

"I have just informed the European Commission that I want a migration 'opt-out' on migration matters in Europe for the Netherlands," Asylum and Migration Minister Marjolein Faber said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

"We have to handle our own asylum policy once more!" she said.

Faber belongs to the far-right Freedom Party (PVV) led by Geert Wilders.

Denmark has managed to negotiate an agreement to stay outside of the EU's common asylum policy. The EU Parliament approved the bloc's new migration pact in April.

The Dutch coalition government took power in July after an election in which the PVV became the largest party in parliament. While the PVV nominated independent Dick Schoof as prime minister, the party remains the dominant force in the coalition.

For the Netherlands to be given an opt-out, all 27 member states would have to agree to a revision of the EU's migration treaty.

In parliament, Wilders said of the planned exemption request: "I know this will take a long time, but it is a sign that new wind is blowing."

Government pushes for stricter asylum regime

The Netherlands' four-party coalition government has announced it plans to impose its "strictest-ever asylum regime," with stronger border checks and harsher rules for arriving asylum-seekers.

Besides the PVV, which is the largest force in the coalition, the government also includes the liberal-conservative VVD, the anti-corruption NSC and the agrarian BBB party.

As part of the stricter measures, the government also plans to declare a state of emergency to suspend parts of the country's asylum law without the parliament's approval.

Legal experts have expressed doubts as to the legality of the measure and the NSC has said it would withdraw support for the emergency law if there is no legal basis for it.

[thoughtlessarse]

Stripping dual nationals of their Dutch passports if they are found guilty of anti-Semitism has been backed by the right-wing Dutch coalition, in the wake of last week’s trouble in Amsterdam. The far-right PVV, the pro-countryside BBB and the right-wing Liberal VVD all came out in favour of the idea during Wednesday’s debate on the football-related violence, in which Israeli nationals were targeted. The fourth coalition party NSC has not yet given a concrete reaction to the plan. Currently people can only be stripped of their Dutch nationality if they are convicted of terrorism offences or form a threat to national security. Anti-Semitism is a form of terror, prime minister Dick Schoof said during the debate. “The aim of terrorism is to make people more afraid,�� he said. “You can imagine using the term terrorism to describe what happened last Thursday.” In addition, he said, the cabinet is prepared to investigate whether anti-Semitism can be included as one of the crimes that can lead to someone being stripped of their Dutch passport.

continue reading

This law would target the people Wilders hates, i.e. Muslims, and is itself a form of state terrorism and racism, intended to crush free speech about Israel's ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people. Wilders will now say it's nothing to do with his Islamophobia, they are antisemitic. How convenient.

[bread-and-roses-too]

I've talked before about how, while there's no ethical consumption under capitalism, there is standout UNethical consumption that should be avoided so here are some tips I use as someone with a general vendetta against Amazon:

use the shopping tab on google instead of going straight to amazon when you want to buy something.

[image ID: an image of a google search for "cool lamps". The cursor is hovering over the second tab to the right under the search bar, which is labeled "shopping".]

this will allow you to look through a variety of sellers that sell the item you're looking for. You can also sort by seller, price, condition, and other factors using this feature.

look everywhere else first. I pretty much only click on Amazon when I've exhausted all of the other options on the shopping tab.

The Better Business Bureau is your friend. Some non-Amazon websites can be sketchy as hell. If the business is based in the U.S., Mexico, or Canada, the BBB is basically the mother of all review sites. If you suspect a company is suppressing negative reviews, or if they don't post them at all, check with the BBB to see if the business has a page and if people have complained.

You can also look up "is [website] a scam". This is a bit jankier and less official but it does work. Usually if a website is conning people out of their money someone has posted to somewhere complaining about it.

Choose smaller sellers if applicable.

[image ID: an image of a white origami-style ceiling light made to look like a lapu lapu or grouper fish. the seller is VasiliLights on Etsy, and the price is $243.18 and shipping is $34.29].

Obviously if you're looking for a specific item it's probably only sold on a certain store's website, but if you're looking for unique pieces, it's actually fairly fulfilling to buy from a smaller seller. When you buy from places like Ebay and Etsy, or from smaller websites owned by the seller, you're handing most of that money over to a real person like you who will go and spend it on things they want and need. Sellers are also genuinely happy and grateful when something sells, my mom has been a seller on Ebay for years and she still gets excited when she makes a sale.

If an Etsy seller has a personal website, buy from there instead. This is more of an anti-corporation tip than a specific anti-Amazon tip.

[Image ID: a screenshot of the Etsy shop page for neurodelightful that also displays the address for their website, neurodelightful.com].

Sites like Etsy still take big fees from their sellers which can make business more challenging and result in sellers not being paid properly for their work. Personal sites help reduce this so sellers will often promote them on their shop page. If you like your money to go into the hands of real people and not corporations, buy from their personal website instead.

Take notice when artists advertise their shops here on Tumblr. It can be easy to school by someone asking for money but a lot of people on here sell genuinely amazing art. @/cypric-rat-hyperfixation, @/dappermouth, @/pangur-and-grim, @/pidgie-core, @/ultrainfinitepit, and @/pikaole are just a few people I can think of who sell their art and it's usually cheaper than buying the same mass produced painting that everyone has in their house.

Switch out your Amazon wishlist for a Throne wishlist. One of my biggest pet peeves about leaving amazon was no longer having a wishlist to display on social media that people could actually buy from. Throne filled that role for me. Copy a link for the item you want, click "add gift", paste the link, adjust the price if needed, and bam, now anyone can but it for you. You can even set up crowdfunding for items costing over $10. It's also sex worker friendly and allows you to have NSFW items on your list if you choose!

Finally, understand that there are just some things you won't be able to find elsewhere. Don't beat yourself up for buying a non-essential item from Amazon once in a blue moon. Amazon is a massive overarching corporation that can be extremely hard to avoid especially if you need to shop for things at cheaper prices. The overall goal is to reduce the money given to them and increase the money given to other sellers to send a message that our favor with Amazon is waning and they need to change things to win it back.

[norelationtodonkeykong]

Good piece from Stephen Semler on the death of "Build Back Better" after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, when (according to his analysis) the Biden admin pivoted to austerist, interventionist messaging. As for the actual BBB bills, centrist Dem Senators Krysten Sinema & Joe Manchin killed them, with some of the bones (taxes, medicare drug negotiation, extending Obamacare subsidies, and the big green bank climate stuff) being used for parts of the Inflation Reduction Act). I feel like the importance of this stuff gets underrated in anti-imperialist politics sometimes, but Biden really did just give up on welfare for the military-industrial complex

[chalkrevelations]

Listen. I'm just going to say the quiet part out loud. Yes, Build looks fantastic in the XCrossover promo material - it's not that he doesn't pull any of that off - but half of the merch + promo screams "Bible."

You will never convince me that "blue crush/black wings" wasn't originally conceived for BBB, then retrofitted for Build solo.

It makes me wonder how long XCrossover wanted to work with BBB, and why it didn't happen last year.

(ETA: Sad but apparently necessary addendum. Do not think this is in ANY way an anti-Bible blog.)

[clowndra]

unserious kpop album review that no one will probably read #6

lmao better late than never i guess? it's time for purplekiss' bxx !

intro: crush (5/10) - again, intro tracks will always be getting a low rating just because i would never listen to them outside of the context of the whole ep/album. love the harmonies at the end but the rest is honestly kinda meh...the instrumental gives "memem" (derogatory).

bbb (7.5/10) - zombie is purplekiss' best tt (don't fight me on this, i am right) and bbb is similar in concept plus they're both craaaaaazy catchy, so i do quite like this song. swan's part in the pre-chorus is HEAVENLY. that being said, i wish the song had a different bridge...i wasn't a fan of using the prechorus as the bridge...it just made the song a bit too repetitive imo and i feel like it really would've benefited from a bigger switch up in the bridge leading into the final chorus.

bittersweet (6/10) - oooh yeah that fucking low ass bass synth thing FUCKS. yeah, that's the stuff. i don't typically like girl crush much anyway, but the anti-drop in the chorus just hasn't grown on me at all...tbh i think this song would be a lot better with a different chorus!

toy boy (6.5/10) - chill, relaxed vibes. don't really have much to say (which is RARE lmao), it's a pretty average song. one thing though is that i wasn't really a fan of this song's rap...(again, kinda rare, because i actually think yuki is one of the better kpop rappers)

heart attack (8.5/10) - THIS IS THE SONG Y'ALL. their voices sound so good on this kind of sweet, cutesy track! there's not much more to say - this is just a solid song and gets clowndra's (allegedly) sought-after stamp of approval ;-)

voyager (7/10) - y'all already know i'm such a little slut for uplifitng tracks...so is this rating really a surprise? the guitar building up in the chorus is ELITE.

[cheolism]

for the ask game: 2,3,12,24,38 💌

i hope you're having a lovely day/night!!

-bintific

omg ty sm! <33 i hope you have a good day/night and that everything goes well for you :)

2. show us a picture of your handwriting?

unfortunately my handwriting is average lol. i write better when i know somseone is going to be reading my writing, but this is a page from my math notes:

3. 3 films you could watch for the rest of your life and not get bored?

little women (greta gerwig vers)

howl's moving castle

knives out lol

12. what's some good advice you want to share?

this is particularly for college students, so it may not apply to some of you. BUT college is something a lot of people struggle through! anyways. if you're attending a class that is content-heavy, highly recommend reading through your textbook to take notes before/after class, not DURING the class when the instructor is teaching. a huge part of learning, for me, is listening. i can't take notes at the same time i listen and still listen effectively. devote your entire self to listening, don't let yourself be distracted by trying to rush and get all the notes down before the instructor moves on. if need be, get a page of paper out for class to jot down any key ideas the instructor goes over. also. if your class uses an online service (@pearson) that allows you to do an assignment over and over until you get 100%, do it. for my math class i don't move on from a question until i get it right. this isn't for memorization per say, but for the POINTS. i'm not a good test taker, and last semester having 100% on all of my homework from not moving on until each question is complete SAVED MY ASS. this means sometimes homework takes longer, but as someone who does horrible during tests it genuinely saved me.

24. what's one thing you're proud of yourself for?

turning out all right. i grew up in a shitty situation with both my parents being various degrees of absent. i won't talk about my home enviroment, but it's something i will never forgive my parents for. i was extremely anti-social and sensitive as a result of my home life, and my mental health was extremely damaging when i was in middle school and part of high school. that being said: i turned out all right. i'm okay. i'm a good person despite it. i struggle, still, but despite everything i am still alive and am good. :)

38. fave song at the moment?

OMG OKOK SO. magnetic by illit and bbb by purple kiss. one is about having a crush and despite being complete opposites, you're attracted. it's so whimsy sounding, the instrument sounds like its from a fucking video game, it's so low-fi and i love it! as soon as wonhee starts the intro i am keyed IN AND READY TO PERFORM. and bbb! bad bitch behavior! let's fucking GO okay so i'm a bad gg stan and haven't liked most of purki's titles. but bbb is amazing and they fucking own the chorus and i love it soo much.

QUESTIONS I THINK WOULD BE FUN TO BE ASKED

[byl4biu]

why do so many fans believe in bb's "private support"? he remained silent during the most difficult time, even after the trial he didn't write a single word in support of b, didn't even like his ig posts, didn't follow his new twitter account, didn't congratulate him on his solo concert or birthday, but shifted the blame for the company’s decision onto him (remember the january announcement, that b is excluded from all projects?), called the change of his partner in the series a "small change", unfollowed him even before the leaked chats from the anti account (and we still don't know how many of them were real and taken out of context, and how many were photoshopped (and I don't want to know, because his private life is none of my business, I just want justice for him and that everyone involved is punished + don't forget that there were half-naked photos of him and it's revenge p0rn)), he deleted photos/tiktoks/tweets related to b, he untags himself from bbb photos on ig, he likes tweets from anti b accounts, he specifically posted a photo with a torn off bbb sticker. did you even see his sour face when the fans were chanting "bbb"? what kind of private support when everything he does publicly shows how much he doesn’t like the idea of bbb and constantly adds gasoline to the fire of hatred towards b? just accept the fact that your idol is an a$$hole who left his "friend" in trouble and sided with the abu$er for money and fame (brands and series) and continues to take advantage of your naivety and belief that he is a good person which he clearly isn't

p.s. and the way he's been pushing his ghostship with j since last year, even though it brought so much hatred to b because it was a complete disrespect to his partner, and he never once told his fans to stop harassing b, even though he stood up for his other friend, to whom they wrote hateful comments... i have no words, how can people not see this?

[jackiebarnard11]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 6, 2023

Contact: Chris Boneau/ Amy Kass / Michelle Farabaugh / Kenya Williams

Follow MTC on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook

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Download Press Materials Here

Manhattan Theatre Club

Announces Full Casting for the

New York Premiere of

Poor Yella Rednecks

By Qui Nguyen

Directed by May Adrales

Previews begin Tuesday, October 10, 2023

Opening on Wednesday, November 1, 2023

At MTC at New York City Center – Stage I

Lynne Meadow (Artistic Director) and Chris Jennings (Executive Director) are pleased to announce the full cast for the New York Premiere of Poor Yella Rednecks, written by Qui Nguyen (Vietgone) and directed by May Adrales (Vietgone, Golden Shield). Poor Yella Rednecks will begin previews on Tuesday, October 10 and open on Wednesday, November 1, 2023 at New York City Center – Stage I (131 West 55th Street).

The cast of Poor Yella Rednecks will feature Jon Hoche (Vietgone, Life of Pi), Ben Levin (Vietgone, “Kung Fu”), Samantha Quan (Vietgone), Jon Norman Schneider (The Coast Starlight), Maureen Sebastian (The Best We Could: A Family Tragedy), and Paco Tolson (Vietgone).

The creative team for Poor Yella Rednecks includes Tim Mackabee (Scenic Design), Valérie Thérèse Bart (Costume Design), Lap Chi Chu (Lighting Design), Shane Rettig (Original Music & Sound Design), Jared Mezzocchi (Projection Design), David Valentine (Puppet Design), Kenny Seymour (Arrangements), and Alyssa K. Howard (Production Stage Manager).

Qui Nguyen, the wildly inventive playwright (and screenwriter for Marvel and Disney) known for his use of pop culture, pop music and puppetry, reunites with his frequent director, May Adrales, for this funny, sexy and brash new play. A young Vietnamese family attempts to put down roots in Arkansas, a place as different from home as it gets. A mom and dad balance big hopes and low-wage jobs, as old flings threaten to pull them apart. It all makes for a bumpy road to the American dream. From the world of Nguyen’s Vietgone, with its comic book and action movie influences, comes a play that melds a deeply personal story with the playwright’s trademark, killer humor. The New York Times hails the writer’s work as “culturally savvy comedy,” and this production shows you why.

Poor Yella Rednecks is co-commissioned by South Coast Repertory and Manhattan Theatre Club. Support for MTC’s production of Poor Yella Rednecks is provided by the Howard Gilman Foundation and Laurents/Hatcher Foundation. Developed in part in Center Theatre Group’s Writers’ Workshop.

The 2022-23 season marked Lynne Meadow’s 50th Anniversary as Artistic Director of MANHATTAN THEATRE CLUB. Meadow was recently joined at the helm of MTC by Executive Director Chris Jennings, who succeeded Executive Producer Barry Grove. MTC’s mission, which Meadow created in 1972 and has implemented since, is to develop and present new work in a dynamic, supportive environment; to identify and collaborate with the most exciting new as well as accomplished artists; and to produce a diverse repertoire of innovative, entertaining, and thought-provoking plays and musicals by American and international playwrights. Since 1989, MTC Education, which uses the power of live theatre and playwriting to awaken minds, ignite imaginations, open hearts, and change lives, has also been an important part of our work.

Over five decades, MTC has grown from a small off-off-Broadway showcase into one of the country’s most prestigious and award-winning theatre companies, creating approximately 600 world, American, New York and Broadway premieres. Our productions have earned 7 Pulitzer Prizes, 28 Tony Awards, 50 Drama Desk Awards and 49 Obie Awards amongst many other honors. Our Broadway home is the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (261 West 47th Street) and Off-Broadway at New York City Center (131 West 55th Street). MTC is an anti-racist organization that respects and honors all voices, and upholds the values of community and equity, For more information, please visit www.ManhattanTheatreClub.com. 

TICKETING INFORMATION

Joining MTC’s season of plays is easy! Just call the MTC Clubline at 212-399-3050 or go to www.manhattantheatreclub.com. Group Sales available now, contact Joanna Lee at Jlee@mtc-nyc.org. Single Tickets on Sale September 5.

BIOGRAPHIES

JON HOCHE returns to MTC after performing in the Off-Broadway Premiere of Vietgone and has collaborated with playwright Qui Nguyen for over a decade. Other credits include - Broadway: Life of Pi (Richard Parker Puppeteer, Associate Puppetry and Movement Director), King Kong: Alive on Broadway (Voice of King Kong/Puppeteer). Off-Broadway: Little Shop of Horrors (Audrey 2 puppeteer); Soft Power (The Public Theater - Grammy Nominated); Vietgone (Manhattan Theatre Club); Soul Samurai, The Inexplicable Redemption of Agent G (Ma-Yi Theater/Vampire Cowboys Theater); Hello, From the Children of Planet Earth (Playwright’s Realm). National Tour: Warhorse (Puppeteer/Puppet Captain). Regional: Revenge Song (Geffen Playhouse). TV: “Hello Tomorrow!” (Apple TV+) - @JonHoche

BEN LEVIN’s MTC debut. Ben just wrapped a season-long arc on the CW series “Kung Fu”. Prior to that, he starred in the series Legacies for four seasons. Selected TV credits include “Arrested Development”, “Love”, and a recurring role on ABC’s “Time After Time”. He appeared in a supporting role in the critically acclaimed Independent Spirit Award nominated feature Test Pattern. Ben can also be seen in the Freeform/Hulu feature Turkey Drop. Other features include Allegiant, Admission, and Mike Birbiglia’s indie comedy Sleepwalk with Me. He's thrilled to be reprising the role of Quang in Qui Nguyen’s Vietgone, after starring in the 2018 production at the San Diego Repertory. Ben is New York City born and raised and is a graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. Shout out to TADA Youth Theatre. In addition to acting, Ben makes music under the moniker Grasshapa, available wherever music is found. 

SAMANTHA QUAN’s theatre credits include Poor Yella Rednecks (South Coast Rep); Vietgone (South Coast Rep, MTC); B.F.E. (Just Add Water Festival); Masha No Home (Ensemble Studio Theatre); An Infinite Ache (The Globe Theaters), workshops of To Red Tendons, Peerless, Hannah and the Dread Gazebo, Red Flamboyant, American Hwangap (Ojai Playwrights Conference); Monument: Or Four Sisters (A Sloth Play) (Boston Court New Works Festival).  Television credits include “Home Before Dark”, “Elementary”, “NCIS”, “The Mentalist”, “Blue”, “Suburgatory”, “Castle”. Film credits include 4 Wedding Planners, Sake Bomb, Good Grief and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.

JON NORMAN SCHNEIDER most recently appeared onstage in Keith Bunin's The Coast Starlight at Lincoln Center Theater. Select New York credits include Catch As Catch Can (Playwrights Horizons), The Chinese Lady (The Public), Henry VI Parts 1-3 (NAATCO), Awake and Sing! (NAATCO/The Public), The Oldest Boy (Lincoln Center Theater), Lunch Bunch (Clubbed Thumb), A Map of Virtue (13P), among others. Regionally, he has worked at Actors Theatre of Louisville, The Alley, Alliance, Barrington Stage, Dorset Theatre Festival, The Goodman, Huntington, The Kennedy Center, Long Wharf, Magic, McCarter, Milwaukee Rep, Mosaic, Northern Stage, The Old Globe, and South Coast Rep. His film and TV credits include Bitter Melon, Manila Is Full of Men Named Boy, The Normals, HBO's Angel Rodriguez, “The Endgame”, "Jessica Jones", "Veep", "30 Rock" and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent".

MAUREEN SEBASTIAN’s theatrical credits include, most recently, MTC’s The Best We Could: A Family Tragedy for which she received a Lucille Lortel nomination for Best Featured Performer in a Play; Vietgone (South Coast Repertory) ; Arabian Nights (Berkeley Repertory/Arena Stage); Thunder Above, Deeps Below (Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center/Second Generation); Now Circa Then (Ars Nova); Lonely, I’m Not and Year Zero (Second Stage); and Soul Samurai (Vampire Cowboys/Ma-Yi). Television credits include “Love Life” (HBO), “American Gothic” (CBS), and “Revolution” (NBC). She produced and starred in the web series “Pretty Precious Unicorns” and the short film “Second Province”. She co-created the podcasts “Gulp” and “A Guide to Freedom” with The North Star Fund. She is a member of May-Yi’s Writer’s Lab and The Gotham Film & Media Institute.

PACO TOLSON is thrilled to return to Manhattan Theatre Club where he received a Lortel nomination for his work in Qui Nguyen’s Vietgone. Paco and Qui have enjoyed an artistic collaboration of over 18 years, and Poor Yella Rednecks will mark their ninth full production together. Select Off-Broadway Credits: Fiasco Theater’s productions of Knight of the Burning Pestle (Red Bull), Twelfth Night and Pericles (Classic Stage Company); The Unwritten Song (EST); Slavey (Clubbed Thumb); The Children of Vonderly (MaYi Theater); Soul Samurai (Ma-Yi/Vampire Cowboys). Regional: to the yellow house (La Jolla Playhouse); Fiasco’s Measure for Measure (Actors Theatre of Louisville); The Winter’s Tale and Vietgone (OSF); Peter and the Starcatcher, Vietgone, and Poor Yella Rednecks (South Coast Rep). Audio: (There’s) No Time for Comedy (Playwrights Horizons), The Memory Motel (Two River Theater), Witness (Paramount/Gideon Media), Play On Shakespeare’s Henry V, The Tempest, and Measure for Measure (Next Chapter Podcasts). Film and TV credits include “Billions”, “Law & Order: Organized Crime”, “Law & Order: Criminal Intent”, “Prodigal Son”, “Search Party”, “The Good Fight”, “Madam Secretary”, “Happy!”, “The Code”, and 7 DAY GIG.

QUI NGUYEN (Playwright) is a playwright, screenwriter, and co-founder of the pioneering geek theatre company, Vampire Cowboys. His plays include Vietgone, Poor Yella Rednecks, Bike Wreck, and the critically acclaimed Vampire Cowboys shows Revenge Song, She Kills Monsters, Soul Samurai, The Inexplicable Redemption of Agent G, Alice in Slasherland, Fight Girl Battle World, Men of Steel, and Living Dead in Denmark. For TV/film, he’s written for Marvel Studios, Netflix, AMC, SYFY, and PBS. He most recently wrote Disney’s Raya and The Last Dragon (nominated for a 2022 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature), and he co-directed and wrote Disney's Strange World in 2022.

MAY ADRALES (Director) is a director, artistic leader, teacher and mother; she has directed over 25 world premieres nationally. Her work has been seen most recently at Second Stage (Rajiv Joseph’s Letters of Suresh), Manhattan Theatre Club (Anchuli Felicia King’s Golden Shield, Qui Nguyen’s Vietgone). Awards include: Ammerman Award at Arena Stage; TCG’s Alan Schneider award for freelance directors; Denham fellowship; New Generations Grantee. She is a Drama League Directing Fellow, Van Lier Fellow, WP Lab Director, SoHo Rep Writers/Directors Lab and New York Theater Workshop directing fellow.  She served as an Associate Artistic Director at Milwaukee Rep; Artistic Associate at The Playwrights Center; Artistic Associate at The Public Theater; and Director of Artistic Programs and Artistic Director at The Lark. She serves on the board of Theater Communications Group.  She is currently the Director of the Theatre Program and Assistant Professor at Fordham University.  MFA, Yale School of Drama. (www.mayadrales.net)

# # # #

www.ManhattanTheatreClub.com

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Exciting update! Ben will be making his Off-Broadway debut this Fall! Here is Manhattan Theatre Club's announcement on Instagram and the theatre's press agent BBB's press release that was sent to our magazine.

Poor Yella Rednecks website link:

[mariacallous]

The surprise winner of last Wednesday’s election in the Netherlands is the longest-serving member of the Dutch House of Representatives: Geert Wilders. The far-right politician—known primarily for his anti-Islam radicalism, his pro-Putin views, and his hairdo—was first elected in 1998, but for years, he was shut out from the governing coalitions. Now, however, he holds the whip hand. His Party for Freedom (PVV) won 37 seats out of 150, up from 17 two years ago, dramatically outperforming the polls and placing well ahead of its closest competitor, the joint list of the Greens and the Labor Party (GL-PvdA).

But the path from there to becoming prime minister is a long and uncertain one.

In fact, the PVV had been subject to a cordon sanitaire ever since the fall of outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s first government in 2012, which it had supported (and which for that reason was colloquially referred to as Brown I, after the fascist brownshirts, instead of Rutte I). The PVV’s platform calls for bans on the Quran, on mosques, and on Islamic schools; a retraction of the Dutch king’s apology for slavery and the restoration of blackface at St. Nicholas celebrations; as well as an abolition of asylum and of free movement of workers within the European Union. Even by the standards of contemporary national conservatives, the platform is made up of a poisonous mix of heinous impulses.

Wilders maintained his presence in parliament, but his appeal and influence were limited while his caucus calcified, as it has now: Eight of the 10 longest-serving members in the new Dutch House are PVV members. But Wilders is the only member of the party as a legal entity, and its absolute ruler as a result, unbound by leadership elections or other concerns. The party does not organize conferences and such, and many of its incoming representatives do not know each other or their new colleagues. Combine that with the lack of outside options, thanks to the party’s reputation, for Wilders’s elected officials, and you end up with a predictable caucus of goons and misfits.

The explicit agreement among mainstream parties to exclude Wilders from governing coalitions came to an end this summer. Rutte brought down his own government over a minor disagreement with one of his coalition partners, the Christian Union, over family reunification rules for asylum recipients. Rutte’s successor as VVD party leader, Justice Minister Dilan Yesilgoz, then opened the door to cooperation with the PVV to rally voters who favor a right-wing government around her.

Wilders jumped at the opportunity and claimed that his priorities had shifted toward health care and economic anxiety. The Dutch media ecosystem complied and started referring to him as “Geert Milders.” As he started rising in the polls, especially after the conflict in Gaza broke out, Yesilgoz tried to walk back her earlier words.

Too little, too late: Voters preferred the original over the copy. In that sense, Wilders’s rise fits American political scientist Larry Bartels’s thesis—that democracy erodes from the top—almost perfectly.

While that is the immediate explanation for Wilders’s success, alarms bells about discontent among a large group of voters—and an openness to wild options—had been ringing for some time. Earlier this year, the agrarian-populist Farmer-Citizen Movement (BBB) became the largest party in the Dutch Senate after winning the provincial elections on its first try. In 2019, the radical-right conspiracy theorists of Forum for Democracy had similarly made their Senate debut as the largest party.

This impulse predates Wilders’s founding of the PVV in 2006: The right-populist Pim Fortuyn List broke through with 26 seats in 2002 after its eponymous founder was murdered by an animal rights activist. It also extends beyond voters open to Wilders’s message. On Wednesday, in addition to Wilders’s large gains, a new party (the New Social Contract) led by former Christian-Democrat Pieter Omtzigt, the second-most veteran member of the Dutch House, secured 20 seats mere months after its founding.

It is not obvious what the Dutch political class can or will plausibly do to address this discontent. It is not merely a thermostatic response to left-wing policy: Eternal prime minister Mark Rutte has mostly led fairly bland center-right governments since he entered office in 2010, while his predecessor was a Christian-Democrat.

In fact, there is a bloc of voters whose expressed wishes are so far out of line with majority opinion and with the domestic and international legal frameworks that the Netherlands has spent decades developing and promoting that they will not be satisfied by any realistic policy changes. These voters include the 50 percent of Wilders’s supporters who have been loyal to him for the past decade, and those who have stuck with the Forum for Democracy as even its own elected officials fled the party’s mix of antisemitism, anti-vaccine lunacy, racism, and love of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Like comparable voters in other countries, they are heavily male, lower-income, less likely to hold a college degree, and detached from social networks.

Disaffected voters outside of Wilders’ core supporters harbor a mix of concerns that include some where policy and governance could and should be improved—though that’s easier said than done. The nitrogen emission crisis that catapulted the BBB to its Senate victory requires difficult choices over land use—between agricultural activity, housing, infrastructure, and nature preservation—that simply need to be made instead of paralyzing the country for years.

Relatedly, housing policy in the Netherlands, as in the United States and elsewhere in the West, has been a disaster for decades. Limited construction in the face of ongoing urbanization, population growth, and ever decreasing household size has placed home ownership and even the ability to rent out of reach for far too many. Too many Dutch politicians, including mainstream ones, try to place the blame for these problems, which are of their own making, on migrants.

The Dutch system of capital income taxation is in flux after elements of it were struck down by the courts. Natural gas extraction in the northeast, suspended last month, caused earthquakes and significant damage: Many affected homeowners still await compensation. The child care benefit scandal that ended Rutte’s third government and made Omtzigt’s career ruined the lives of thousands of families, many of whom still await compensation as well.

But are these areas where a Wilders government would dramatically improve matters? Take the child care benefit scandal, the biggest political scandal in the Netherlands in recent years. The Dutch tax agency concluded it had targeted victimized families on the basis of national origin, donations to mosques, and “not looking Dutch.” It’s like putting U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez in charge of monitoring the Egyptian government’s human rights record.

On the international front, there are ways to reduce immigration at the margin: by forcing Dutch universities to offer more instruction in Dutch or by raising taxes on high-skilled immigrants. Such changes would be costly to institutions of higher learning, the Dutch knowledge economy, and industrial champions such as ASML, and I’m sure some of these same voters would complain about that in turn. The Netherlands could scale down its climate agenda somewhat, though significant aspects of it are managed at the EU level. And the country could return to its traditional position of budgetary hawkishness within the European Union after a brief excursion to Club Med—though Wilders’s platform, which calls for a lower pension age, reduced VAT, and more public health care spending, goes in the opposite direction.

But whether it’s immigration, EU membership, religious freedom, or Dutch support for Ukraine, there simply is no path forward for the dramatic policy shifts envisioned by Wilders and his ilk. There is no pro-Putin majority among Dutch MPs (or voters). The Netherlands is not going to leave the EU and reintroduce the guilder or convince NATO to expel Turkey. It is not going to abolish its representation in Ramallah because “it already has an embassy in Amman,” as the PVV stated in its election manifesto.

In fact, let’s not get ahead of ourselves: It is not at all obvious that there is a majority in the Dutch House that supports a government led by Wilders or one that his party participates in. The two indispensable parties for any majority are Omtzigt’s New Social Contract and, as has been the case for years now, the VVD.

During the campaign, Omtzigt suggested that he would not govern with Wilders; he predictably changed his tune this week. It would be somewhat ironic if partnerships with Wilders became the unifying thread of the political career of Omtzigt, a man who has long claimed to care deeply about religious freedom. Those who recall how American warriors for religious freedom responded to former U.S. President Donald Trump’s Muslim ban will not be shocked.

The VVD has adopted a trickier position. Despite triggering the election and opening the door to Wilders, it has now announced that it’s tuning out. It is unwilling to join any coalition—though it would be willing to support a minority right-wing government, presumably formed by PVV, the New Social Contract, and BBB. Such a government would effectively be Rutte I in reverse, with the VVD and the PVV swapping places and the New Social Contract and BBB taking the place of the Christian-Democratic party that Omtzigt was then a part of.

Variations will surely be considered, and I imagine that Yesilgoz would happily join a coalition if she gets to be prime minister. Wilders is responsible for selecting a so-called “scout” to explore the possibilities. His first choice was forced to resign when news broke that Utrecht University, the scout’s former employer, had filed charges of fraud and bribery against him. The new beacon of hope for concerned citizens is Ronald Plasterk, a former education and home affairs minister for the Labor Party who has drifted to the right in recent years.

The alternative to a right-wing coalition—off the table while Wilders has the initiative—would be a broad centrist coalition in which the VVD and New Social Contract are joined by the GL-PvdA and either the liberal Democrats 66 party or the BBB. But even consideration of that option is unlikely to happen before 2024.

This route would not be a very satisfying outcome to many New Social Contract and VVD voters. At the same time, it would avoid not just Wilders, but also a coalition featuring two entirely new parties, including many inexperienced and unvetted PVV MPs. For the outgoing prime minister, who has set his sights on a leadership role at NATO or the European Commission, it would surely constitute a more attractive legacy. And at a time of geopolitical upheaval, it might be the responsible choice.

Though the size of Wilders’ win came as a major surprise, these two coalition options were basically already on the table based on preelection polling. Ironically, a shift to the right may well be less likely now than if Wilders had won fewer seats. As the leader of the largest party, he would traditionally become prime minister. To his potential coalition partners, that may be a bridge too far in a way that a less dominant role might not have been.

But regardless of the eventual outcome and whatever else may motivate his voters, Wilders’s victory is first and foremost a message of intense hatred toward the Netherlands’ ethnic and religious minorities as well as its immigrant population. The legitimation of Wilders’s open bigotry and the willingness of millions of Dutch voters to tell their neighbors and co-workers that they find their mere existence odious are, well, not great.