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Mason was arrested for casting an illegal ballot in 2018.
But this March, Mason, who is Black, lost her appeal.
Her example will no doubt frighten others who may be uncertain of their status.
So what can the theater offer her?
In-person productions are shut down; theres no time to write a drama about her struggles.
But the newly formed verite company the Commissary believes it is uniquely positioned to extend Masons reach.
It will be available until November 2.
At that point, in a couple of ways, time runs out.
She wasnt working and wanted to hang out with her friends, so she did play readings.
It was basically the cast ofBlue Ridgeat the Atlantic Theater at my house, she says.
They formed a kind of virtual book club for performers, many of whom have never met in person.
They read new plays and chatted about them.
And then George Floyd was killed.
It was a call to action.
The technique felt right for the moment.
Ireland notes that it places the self-conscious theatricality of the system itself in horrifying relief.
The electoral importance of Tarrant County a teeter-totter area in a knifes-edge state lends the story further urgency.
We see it unfold like a story, says Thomas.
You could not write a better play.
This movement from watching to witnessing shifts the terms, says Thomas, but it also shifts the role.
If Im a witness to something, that automatically means there is a relationship there of responsibility.
If you witness injustice and dont speak up, youre complicit.
They reached out to Masons lawyer, and eventually Mason herself joined some of the virtual rehearsals.
Its quite emotional on everyones part, says Thomas.
She broke into tears.
She is such a strong light, truly.
What could possibly be essential about the work of an artist at this time?
Or is someone going to read 35 pages of a trial transcript?
Says Thomas, It proves that artists can be separated and still have something vital to offer.
The moment, they both insist, isnow now now.
Mason is not yet behind bars.
Audiences can still write a letter to Governor Greg Abbott pleading for clemency.
We talk about the online space aspiring toward being a real civic space, says Ireland.
She also notes that actors often talk about being of service.
This is that chance, she says.
This is touching the thing directly.
