Off-Broadway Play 'Ms Blakk for President' Highlights 1992 Drag Queen Presidential Campaign
The off-Broadway play 'Ms Blakk for President' documents activist Terence Alan Smith's 1992 campaign for US president under the drag persona Joan Jett Blakk.
In Brief
- •The off-Broadway play 'Ms Blakk for President' documents activist Terence Alan Smith's 1992 campaign for US president under the drag persona Joan Jett Blakk.
- •Co-created by Oscar-winning Moonlight screenwriter Tarell Alvin McCraney and director Tina Landau, the theatrical work explores drag as a form of political intervention during the AIDS crisis.
- •Smith ran under the Queer Nation ticket and famously entered the floor of the 1992 Democratic National Convention by changing in a bathroom inside Madison Square Garden.
- •The project was initially conceived in 2019 for Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company after Landau discovered Smith's history in an LGBTQ+ reference book.
Why It Matters
The theatrical production sheds light on an under-reported era of American political activism, examining how queer activists used radical performance art to confront systemic inaction during the AIDS epidemic. By focusing on Joan Jett Blakk's satirical yet impactful presidential bid, the play illustrates how political campaigns can be re-framed to challenge power structures.
Key Details
- Presidential Campaign Year
- 1992
- Political Ticket
- Queer Nation
- Play Development Year
- 2019
- Co-Creators
- Tarell Alvin McCraney and Tina Landau
Context & Background
In the early 1990s, at the height of the AIDS crisis, advocacy organizations such as Queer Nation engaged in direct-action protest strategies to force public discussion on public health, systemic reform, and LGBTQ+ rights.
Original Reporting & Sources
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