To Westmoreland County Commissioner Doug Chew,

When you call civic engagement “political theater” “Nothing to see: Westmoreland commissioners debate streaming of public meetings,” Sept. 28, TribLive), you may not realize how right you are, and how proud that should make all of us.

Western theater was born as civic engagement. In ancient Greece, citizens gathered in amphitheaters not just to be entertained but to wrestle with the most pressing questions of justice, morality and governance. Playwrights like Sophocles and Euripides used the stage to explore war, corruption, leadership and democracy itself. Attending plays was not a pastime, it was a public duty.

Citizens heard stories that challenged them, provoked them and demanded they reflect on their shared responsibilities. Greek tragedy gave us the vocabulary for understanding power and consequence. Comedy gave us the courage to laugh at those in authority. And through both, theater became the heartbeat of the polis, the very word from which we get “politics.”

So yes, showing up at a public meeting, asking questions, holding leaders accountable is political theater. Democracy is not meant to be silent, invisible or passive. It is meant to be seen, heard and yes, sometimes performed.

When citizens engage passionately, they are carrying forward a tradition thousands of years old.

Calling civic participation “political theater” is not an insult. It is a reminder that we are doing exactly what free people are supposed to do: take the stage, speak our lines and be part of the drama of self-government.

Commissioner, we are not here to put on a show. We are here to keep democracy alive.

Sheila Confer

Greensburg

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