'Accidental' Designed To Join in Dialogue

Dear Editor,
    The Palindrome Theatre Company is proud to celebrate with the city of Austin, and commends the Austin Police Department for adopting the Preservation of Life standard into their Policy 202 "justification of force" code. This issue is what moved Artistic Director Nigel O'Hearn to produce Accidental Death of an Anarchist ["Exhibitionism," the Arts, May 25], inspiring a group of young Austinites to explore the relationships between police, media, and community and share their findings through artistic production.
    Palindrome is honored to join with other civic organizations and community leaders who are similarly dedicated to encouraging the adoption of the preservation of life standard.
    Dan Solomon reviewed Accidental, calling the play's political commentary "half-baked" and a failure. Palindrome revels in this failure, because we are wary of what would be considered a success. We believe that engaging aesthetically with difficult questions should not produce fully baked examples of success, but rather should leave rough edges and create room to explore and imagine.
    Paulo Freire wrote, "If the structure does not permit dialogue the structure must be changed.”
    With Accidental, our goal was not to define and solve, but rather to encourage our neighbors to join in a dialogue, examining certain power structures that define relationships between citizens, police, and the media. We are appreciative of his review and for the signatures and letters we have received and for the stories that have been shared with us as a result of this production. We appreciate the opportunity to also enter into a dialogue with the Chronicle, encouraging its readers to seek out examples of art that are authentic, inspired, and focused on true community engagement and responsiveness.