“It’s the Economy, Stupid” was the outcry of strategist, James Cavelle during Clinton’s run for the White House in 1992, a mantra describing recession and a lot of other made-up stuff. Bumper stickers were very popular. And fridge magnets and computer screensavers. The simplicity of the phrase, the idea and the quote, was one of the things that got Clinton elected.
“It’s the Economy, Stupid!” is back in our lives again, thanks to the current political environment and this engaging production of the same title.
This production / lecture on the current economics explains it all from the perspective of a young boy, Sellman-Leava, trying to figure out how money works and maybe make us feel better. The adage, “the rich get richer and the poor get poor,” seems to better explain how much of us feel.
Including the Sellma-Levea parents. Young Sellman-Leava’s family, who inched their way to financial security, was caught off-guard, like many, and found themselves spiralling backward. His parents seemed to have been able to protect him somewhat while teaching him the lessons that would help him survive financially as an adult. He and his magician stage-mate break it down for us.
It’s the Economy, Stupid! makes it easy and entertaining to follow. There is playful banter between these two friends with some fun and disturbing slight-of-hand from Howells, who tries to keep things on an informational thread. Howell is the snarky pragmatist.
Howell salaries 10 people in the audience with a pound each. Then he convinces them to deposit these pounds in a nice, safe, warm bank. But, surprise, the bank doesn’t actually have their pounds. Here he explains about lending and interest and foreclosure and bankruptcy and all the “not good” and “bad” things that can happen while you are busy bettering your life.
If you find in the bottom half of the hour that it all starts to seem frighteningly out of our control, you are not alone. You have learned that, along with Sellman-Leava’s family, there is not too much we can do but ride the waves our politician have got us into.
Under the guiding hand of director Katharina Reinthaller, we are lured into the entertainment of It’s the Economy, Stupid!