Ida Cuttler will perform the “Pivot DIY” as part of our Live Talk: The Day After show on November 9. The show takes place the day after the election (see Events) as part of Steppenwolf Theatre’s LookOut series. I chatted with Ida about the upcoming show.

JE: So, this crazy election is almost over. How do you think you’ll be feeling on the day after?

IC: Sleepy. The election is on a Tuesday. The excitement/stress will probably make falling asleep difficult… and then I teach early at a Chicago Public School on Wednesday morning. So yes. Sleepy.

JE: We’re excited that you’ll be performing the DIY section of the show that night. What are some of your do-it-yourself strengths?

IC: I think my strengths with DIY in performing is that I always like to think of my work as a method of co-creation with the audience. We’re building whatever this experience is and what it will be together, right here, with each other.

JE: Your performances often have a DIY feel — as a Neo-Futurist, you write and then perform your own work. Could you tell us a bit about your creative process? Who are some of your influences?

IC: I like focusing on the connection of everyone in a room together. I like making work where the people leave with a tangible item, or smell or taste or  something physical they can come back to. I like leaving audiences with souvenir, even if that souvenir is a thought that when they have it, it puts them back immediately in the room.

JE: Who would you rather go out for a beer with, Sanders, HRC or the ghost of Ronald Reagan?

IC: I think I would say the ghost of Ronald Reagan. Not ’cause I’m a Reagan fan, but because I think a beer with a ghost would prove to be the more stimulating of conversations. i.e.  what unfinished business do you have? How are you holding this beer? Do you know other ghosts? Also because Sanders reminds me too much of some grumpy family members I have and HRC reminds me of girls who were mean to me in middle school.

JE: Major take-aways from this election?

IC: It makes me sad how this election really divided a lot of family and friends. We really are gonna have to make a firm commitment, to each other, but also to ourselves, try to find a way to live peacefully and in the same country with people we disagree with. I hope we are all ready to do that work.

Thanks, Ida. Come check out Ida’s work on November 9 when she’ll instruct us how to have conversations that are not about the election! She performs along with hip hop sensation, PHENOM, Theater Oobleck, clowning duo Leah Urzendowski + Anthony Courser, host Isaac Gomez and more! Tickets + Details: pivotarts.org/events. AND check out more of the fabulous IDA CUTTLER live from the Democratic Convention! Sort of…

Photo by Joe Mazza of Brave Lux.