Re-cap: TONYC's 2024 Fight-Raiser

Nov. 18, 2024

Three weeks (and perhaps an era ago) we gathered at The People’s Forum for TONYC’s Fight-Raiser.

The vibes were active! People mingled, met organizers and artists, and dug into dinner while the music played. As the room got ready for the main event, the Trans Boxing crew literally warmed up the space with shadow-boxing, pad-work, and sparring.

Our Emcee for the evening was Stevie Walker-Webb, theater director, Artistic Director of Baltimore Center stage, and former TONYC joker. We discussed the impacts of reduced funding for arts and community before a team of TONYC actors took the stage to present “Here to Stay.” Liz Morgan jokered this play about a small (fictional) immigrant services non-profit that loses city council discretionary funding; prompting a discussion about cuts to critical services with a client advisory board. Then, our audience of spect-actors were invited to participate in a Theatre of the Oppressed “boxing” exercise, where multiple participants stepped up to improvise the arguments between two perspectives. On one side, we heard the voices of “the grant is gone but we can still get creative and continue the work!” In the other corner were the voices of “reduced resources means we have to adjust, so that we can care for the work we do.”

As spect-actors gave voice to each side, the tension between these perspectives resonated through the room. Spect-actors shared their experiences with cut jobs, cut funding, and the pressure to keep going. In the spirit of getting creative with how we find support, our spect-actors helped us throw some uppercuts to budget cuts by joining a raffle for some awesome items, buying TONYC merch, and donating to our online crowdfunding campaign. And while the party is over, we’re fundraising through the end of the year!

We closed the program with a resounding sing-along by Radical Evolution’s Street Theatre Troupe, reviewing the long litany of budget cuts that the NYC Mayor has inflicted on our communities!