Notes from Annabel Soutar – February 2025

Dear Porte Parole community, 

Current events are dizzying and often alarming these days.  I am torn between feeling a sense of civic due diligence to follow the hourly rush of America First politicking (and Canada’s response to it) and feeling the need to focus on aspects of my life that I can control – my responsibilities to my family and to my community through the work I do at Porte Parole. 

Mostly I am asking myself:  what can I do in this moment that will be useful and of service?  What do we do at Porte Parole through our documentary theatre practice that speaks to this moment of geopolitical upheaval, increasing polarization in public dialogue, and the rise of hyper-nationalism around the world? 

I found part of an answer to my question in the February 20^th edition of The Rachman Review podcast, which features an interview by host Gideon Rachman, Chief Foreign Affairs commentator at the Financial Times, with Mathias Döpfner, CEO of German media empire Axel Springer. 

In the interview, Döpfner addresses U.S Vice President J.D. Vance’s controversial speech about democratic values and free speech at the Munich Security Conference two weeks ago, and the reaction by many progressive Europeans and North Americans that it would inflame right-wing sentiment in advance of Germany’s federal elections. Döpfner encourages us not to jump to the conclusion that Vance was promoting the extreme right-wing party, the AfD. Instead, he invites us to consider the reasons why there has been a rise in extreme right-wing ideology in Germany over the past 5 years, and to take some responsibility as progressives for that outcome by recognizing how we have excluded right-wing groups from public discourse about important topics like immigration and national security. 

In doing so, Döpfner bravely walks a rhetorical tight rope between his deep concern about the rise of neo-Nazi ideas in the fringes of the AfD, and his concern that if we continue to exclude right-wing groups from public discourse, they will inevitably become more radical. 

Those of you who have followed Porte Parole’s work on The Assembly over the past 8 years know that we share Döpfner’s political and ethical questions, and that we believe they are fundamental to ask if we care about the future of democracy. 

I continue to believe that we must promote and participate in agoras today that take a nuanced and inclusive approach to public dialogue, and that we can’t afford to react too quickly and emotionally to today’s barrage of alarming news stories. 

I continue to gather much hope and inspiration from our Porte Parole community of artists, donors and audience who prove to me every day that we can push back against toxic polarization and isolationism through our documentary storytelling. 

Thank you for everything you do to support this practice. 

— Annabel Soutar
Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Porte Parole