A former student invited me to see her perform tonight, as she generally does. She's performing in yet another "devised Theatre" piece that's intended to showcase students' originality and unique voices, but inevitably, and paradoxically, differs and deviates little from all the other devised pieces I've watched. Sometimes I wonder if the performers in some of these shows learn anything other than bad habits. As I sit there listening to a laundry list of topics in this kitchen sink script, I find myself cringing uncomfortably as student after student goes on explicit or profanity-laced tirades—ahem...monologues—that seem more self-serving rather than serving some dramatic purpose. From the onset, this show presumptuously portended to leave the audience with more questions than answers, but after three hours [yes, three hours!], I left with no solutions, no answers, and the only question I had was whether all of it was even necessary. In an effort to not censor their voices, the facilitators of this performance have permitted these students to be crude, gratuitous, off-putting, and, sadly, ineffective.
Having attended a number of these shows, I know what to expect, and conversely what not to expect, going into them. Knowing my discriminating taste, my students will often forewarn me about what I will see when I attend their shows. My issue is not so much with these devised shows, as I understand that they have their audience. I just don't happen to be a member of that audience. My greater issue is that these types of shows have begun to inform Theatre written for, and to be performed by adolescents.
I spend the summer perusing scripts, looking for material that is appropriate and manageable for my Theatre Department. I am always looking at new shows, or shows of which I may have not heard before, hoping to find meritorious work that might be a good fit for the talent I have. I often come across shows geared toward Middle School or High School Theatre programs, some even offering reduced or waived royalties. I read through these scripts and librettos, or listen to the cast recordings, and I'm noticing that more commonly these shows contain obscene language, mature content, and adult situations. I understand that often these shows are intended for High Schools, but I'm not sure they're exactly appropriate for them either. Not to say that High School students aren't exposed to and quite knowledgeable of the topics covered in these shows, but the audience for Educational Theatre primarily consists of students, parents, and grandparents. Do parents really wish to see their children being gratuitously explicit or obscene? Moreover, I would never condone that type of language or discussion in my classroom, so why would I choose content for my students that reinforces such self-indulgence and vulgarity?
Generally, I don't feel it serves a dramatic purpose, especially when it's inordinate. It doesn't enhance the script. To the contrary, I feel that often when it's overdone it is merely for shock value to compensate for a script that's weak or trite. When you evaluate such show just on the plot elements, you realize that many of these shows lack craft.
I work in New York City, so I have the opportunity to attend Theatre quite often. I am hardly a prude or hypersensitive. In fact, those who have seen or read scripts I've written might be surprised that I'd take this position, but my expectations are different for Educational Theatre; in many ways, my standards are higher. What's for adults is for adults. The irony is that when I attend professional Theatre, it's never as explicit as many devised shows, and shows written for Teens. Profanity is never used as frequently, and gratuitously as it is in shows for Teens. The most uncomfortable I've ever been in a Broadway Theatre was when I took my students to see Billy Elliot, the Musical. We had received the tickets for free through a corporate sponsorship. I made the mistake of not watching the show before I took students to see it. I assumed that it was safe since the title character was a boy their age, and the show had been approved by the Department of Education. I couldn't get out of there quickly enough, and the overarching theme of the show, for me, was overshadowed by many elements that I found to be simply superfluous, especially the use of profanity. Lesson learned.
Is it any wonder we in Educational Theatre have to choose from the same list of plays and musicals that are always done, and were originally written for adult performs, on topics that generally concern adults. These are often the shows that don't have objectionable content. I don't have to get approval for the shows I select and I don't wish to put myself in a position where I am forced to give up my autonomy or creative control. If I do have to do battle over any creative choice, I need to be able to justify it within myself first. If I'm taking a risk with controversial content of any kind, I have to make sure that there is something my student will learn or gain from the experience.
Last year, I directed the play
Facing-Up by Cynthia Mercati. The show was set in a High School, but it was written in the Eighties, and seems much more topical and current for today's Middle School students. The show does address teen pregnancy, an issue I had never addressed in any previous production (save
Once Upon a Mattress if one chooses to interpret it that way). Before deciding to produce the play, I had many things to consider. How would the administration and parents receive it? Would it become a distraction as it isn't necessarily the focus of the play? Should I seek permission to omit the pregnancy scare? Should I simply downplay it? Should I choose another play? Was this really appropriate?
Facing-Up turned out to be the right show at the right time, as we had several students confront this and other situations dramatized in this play. To not produce this show, and in the context and spirit the playwright intended, would be a disservice to the work. It would be a denial of the realities our students are facing, and a missed opportunity to educate the school community. It turned out to be one of the most successful plays I directed at my school.
I am not opposed to students expressing their unique voices, but if everyone is saying the same thing in the same way, it's unoriginal, bordering on cliché. I don't mind if they are somewhat irreverent if the ultimate purpose is to challenge, not to offend. I think the one thing we should never teach our student performers to be is self-indulgent. The trend in society is certainly toward self-satisfaction, if not self-gratification. Educational Theatre must acknowledge the trend, but need not follow or capitulate to this trend. We can validate their experiences and teach them that there's more to life than what they have seen, and a world beyond what they know. After all, the magic of the Theatre is the power to temporarily escape reality in order to understand reality better once you return to it.