I've never met anyone who didn't already have a hard and fast opinion about Nancy Pelosi or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

So when I set out to write a play inspired by the tumultuous relationship between the first woman Speaker of the House and the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, I knew my characters would remain nameless: "N" and "A."

In our incredibly polarized nation, even someone's name can cause us to shut down, to close off.

Pelosi. AOC. Trump.

Still with me?

There is power in a name. But there is power in putting a name – a label – aside.

My first job was in politics, as an aide for a Congresswoman named Connie Morella. She was, and is, a Republican. She is also a liberal. Yeah, that used to be a thing. 

I loved my boss and my job. But just by working for a "Republican," I'd soon be labeled, too. Unknowingly, I'd picked a side.

I got out of politics.

Fast forward to after our show: A man in the audience – a big theater lover – tells me he's just returned from a week in Milwaukee. "I bet I'm the only person here," he whispers, "who just came back from nominating Trump."

A Trump-loving theater-geek. As labels go, unexpected!  

Over the next few months, we're going to hear a lot of labels thrown around. "Childless cat ladies" barely scratches the surface.

Maybe one day, our politics will be less prone to labels and name-calling. Maybe we'll even get back to a time when just hearing a person's name doesn't end a conversation.

(Maybe…)

       
For more info:

• "N/A," at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, Lincoln Center, New York (through September 1) | Ticket info

     
Story produced by Annie Iezzi. Editor: George Pozderec.