Street Scenes

Street Scenes

Conceived by Maayan Strauss and Colin Mannex

Created by the Ensemble

Street Scenes is a theatrical investigation about perceptions of crime and community in New Haven. As a starting point, our ensemble has chosen to explore the responses that people have when they open an email from the Yale Chief of Police, Ronnell Higgins.

Higgins dispatches his “Messages from the Chief” to anyone affiliated with Yale University whenever a local crime occurs that might have ramifications for students, faculty, staff, and visiting fellows. In keeping with federal reporting standards—which require “timely warnings” about situations that may pose a serious or ongoing threat—these emails are intended to notify recipients about matters regarding personal safety and security.

According to Assistant Chief of Police, Steven D. Woznyk, “The intent is not to frighten, but to inform the Yale community, to increase awareness of campus safety issues, and provide safety information so that members of the Yale community can take precautions.” 

Our theatrical company acknowledges the utility that these emails serve, but at the same time, we question their psychological impact. How do people within the Yale community react to crime through this medium? What are the commonly held assumptions about street violence?

The basic format of Higgins emails lends itself readily to the terms of a theatrical event. The requisite details in the “Messages from the Chief” provide the basic setting for the more elaborate scene that recipients then build unintentionally in their minds. As soon as the email recipients ascertain the pertinent information within the crime sketch, they mentally furnish their own details—based on social heuristics, conventional wisdom, and personal prejudices—to script a composite “drama” in their minds. Every time Higgins sends an email, he sets in motion a process in which thousands of people in New Haven mentally construe a theatrical event.

The aim is to devise a performance piece that draws from academic research and personal reflection to investigate the extent to which these emails shape our consciousness as students and Elm City residents. As the company works together, we'll be examining issues regarding race, education, and class, and hopefully the culmination of our work will provide some means for conversation beyond the basic forensic details that Higgins includes in his messages.