Open Forum

     I have a very talented student who  is contemplating writing a play around the theme/idea of censorship in High school theatre. We are looking for real  life experiences that directors and students have encountered concerning this issue. What types of plays have been censored? What is the reason for the censorship?  What did you/the students do to combat the censorship?  Did you overcome the censorship?  Thank you for your help with this project. 

------------------------------
Cathy Archer
Rutland VT
------------------------------

Can open, worms everywhere! to quote Chandler Bing. I would firstly do a search through the community about this issue, because there have been some very rich discussions about it. You and your student are brave; the question of censorship is pretty raw. When an administration calls you to alter or change words or content, I wonder sometimes if they are aware of the copyright laws that protect writers from having their work altered.

 You have community standards, and the ever-present threat of "I just don't want to get any parent phone calls.'

Some folks deal with this in different ways. Some schools have super helpful administration who are deeply supportive. Some situations you have to try to leverage. One teacher I read of asked that all parent complaints be directed to him personally, and they would explain the whys, the wherefores, and in their case, parents could see why choices were made.

I have been shot down twice in my school career. One was for a published anthology of student work for my Creative Writing class, where a student wrote a piece (very tongue in cheek) about how to survive the Zombie apocalypse. In the piece she mentioned stockpiling guns and ammo to be ready when the Zombies come kick in your door. On the insistence of my principal at the time, I pulled the piece, with his reasoning that guns and the idea of killing (even imaginary Zombies) should never be in any kind of production with the school's name on it. I do think on reflection that context really determines what the intent of the piece was, but I didn't fight it, desiring his support for further activities. The same principal later agreed that we could do 'West Side Story,' natch.

A later circumstance involved a theatre class' devised piece. The students really wanted to create a piece that centered around understanding school shootings. We started exploring it, and the students were working with the most passion than I had seen all year. I had a sneaking suspicion that it might be too raw for my principal, so I again approached and discussed the idea.

I got as far as 'My students want to do an original piece exploring school shootings..."

That's as far as we ever got. My students wrote a couple letters, but were also shot down. Ultimately, my students got an excellent lesson in what happens in censorship cases, though unfortunately it knocked a great deal of fire out of them. So they also gained a finer sense of cynicism, too.

I am really on the fence about the censorship issue. My natural instinct is to rebel and question authority, multiple times a day, but I also am a married father of three who wants to ensure that bread is on the table. I do believe there are smarter ways to work around the system, without putting a great red target on your back. As I get older, I'm definitely getting smarter on that.

I really look forward to the responses to this discussion!

------------------------------
Phillip Goodchild
Ruskin FL
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 03-31-2015 11:59
From: Cathy Archer
Subject: Censorship of High Schools Plays

     I have a very talented student who  is contemplating writing a play around the theme/idea of censorship in High school theatre. We are looking for real  life experiences that directors and students have encountered concerning this issue. What types of plays have been censored? What is the reason for the censorship?  What did you/the students do to combat the censorship?  Did you overcome the censorship?  Thank you for your help with this project. 

------------------------------
Cathy Archer
Rutland VT
------------------------------

Someone who has been following this issue and may provide you with some material is theatre advocate (among other things) Howard Sherman.  Here is an example of one recent blog posting dealing with an issue in Trumbull, CT -
http://www.hesherman.com/2014/02/13/dramatists-legal-defense-fund-to-honor-trumbull-highs-thespian-student-leader/

------------------------------
Abbie Van Nostrand
Director of Corporate Communications
Samuel French, Inc.
New York NY
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 03-31-2015 12:22
From: Phillip Goodchild
Subject: Censorship of High Schools Plays

Can open, worms everywhere! to quote Chandler Bing. I would firstly do a search through the community about this issue, because there have been some very rich discussions about it. You and your student are brave; the question of censorship is pretty raw. When an administration calls you to alter or change words or content, I wonder sometimes if they are aware of the copyright laws that protect writers from having their work altered.

 You have community standards, and the ever-present threat of "I just don't want to get any parent phone calls.'

Some folks deal with this in different ways. Some schools have super helpful administration who are deeply supportive. Some situations you have to try to leverage. One teacher I read of asked that all parent complaints be directed to him personally, and they would explain the whys, the wherefores, and in their case, parents could see why choices were made.

I have been shot down twice in my school career. One was for a published anthology of student work for my Creative Writing class, where a student wrote a piece (very tongue in cheek) about how to survive the Zombie apocalypse. In the piece she mentioned stockpiling guns and ammo to be ready when the Zombies come kick in your door. On the insistence of my principal at the time, I pulled the piece, with his reasoning that guns and the idea of killing (even imaginary Zombies) should never be in any kind of production with the school's name on it. I do think on reflection that context really determines what the intent of the piece was, but I didn't fight it, desiring his support for further activities. The same principal later agreed that we could do 'West Side Story,' natch.

A later circumstance involved a theatre class' devised piece. The students really wanted to create a piece that centered around understanding school shootings. We started exploring it, and the students were working with the most passion than I had seen all year. I had a sneaking suspicion that it might be too raw for my principal, so I again approached and discussed the idea.

I got as far as 'My students want to do an original piece exploring school shootings..."

That's as far as we ever got. My students wrote a couple letters, but were also shot down. Ultimately, my students got an excellent lesson in what happens in censorship cases, though unfortunately it knocked a great deal of fire out of them. So they also gained a finer sense of cynicism, too.

I am really on the fence about the censorship issue. My natural instinct is to rebel and question authority, multiple times a day, but I also am a married father of three who wants to ensure that bread is on the table. I do believe there are smarter ways to work around the system, without putting a great red target on your back. As I get older, I'm definitely getting smarter on that.

I really look forward to the responses to this discussion!

------------------------------
Phillip Goodchild
Ruskin FL
------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 03-31-2015 11:59
From: Cathy Archer
Subject: Censorship of High Schools Plays

     I have a very talented student who  is contemplating writing a play around the theme/idea of censorship in High school theatre. We are looking for real  life experiences that directors and students have encountered concerning this issue. What types of plays have been censored? What is the reason for the censorship?  What did you/the students do to combat the censorship?  Did you overcome the censorship?  Thank you for your help with this project. 

------------------------------
Cathy Archer
Rutland VT
------------------------------

I tried to produce a play called Talking With Terrorists by Robin Soames.  It was a look at why people are seduced by terrorism--there is actually no violence in the play, nor any guns, and although there are a few bad words--I got permission to edit those.  I was told I couldn't do that.

I also tried to produce the play version of Night of the Living Dead, which is designed to be very stylized, and in black and white, like the movie, so there is no blood and the violence is really almost non-existent.  When asked why I wanted to do this play, I talked about this was the first time in movies when a black male is the hero--I thought at a school that was heavily African-American it would be good to have a strong, powerful black male role--I was shot down

I did the Insanity of Mary Girard.  I was allowed to do the show, but I had to remove the word "whore", "prostitute", or any of those other such words.  I was allowed to leave "harlot" because my principal said the kids wouldn't know what it meant.

I thought I would get pushback when I did Carrie.  Not a word.   But later, after it had been approved, rehearsed, opened and closed, I was told that I had made a poor choice (they could have told me no)

And lastly, I wrote an adaption of Frankenstein.  I had several kisses throughout the show between Elizabeth and Victor.  Nothing overly involved, very chaste and tasteful.  I was asked to remove them after opening.   The kids actually went to the principal en masse and explained how important they were and how they developed character and mood, etc.  He actually listened to them and let them stay.  I found out after the fact that it actually wasn't the kiss, it was that it was a white boy and a black girl.  The person has issue with it being interracial.  That same show, I got a complaint that one of my actors said "Hell".  I had to prove I hadn't written it that way--it was a mistake he made on stage.  

Aww, censorship.

------------------------------
Jennifer Miguel
Franklin VA

Original Message:
Sent: 04-03-2015 09:35
From: Abbie Van Nostrand
Subject: Censorship of High Schools Plays

Someone who has been following this issue and may provide you with some material is theatre advocate (among other things) Howard Sherman.  Here is an example of one recent blog posting dealing with an issue in Trumbull, CT -
http://www.hesherman.com/2014/02/13/dramatists-legal-defense-fund-to-honor-trumbull-highs-thespian-student-leader/

------------------------------
Abbie Van Nostrand
Director of Corporate Communications
Samuel French, Inc.
New York NY
------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 03-31-2015 12:22
From: Phillip Goodchild
Subject: Censorship of High Schools Plays

Can open, worms everywhere! to quote Chandler Bing. I would firstly do a search through the community about this issue, because there have been some very rich discussions about it. You and your student are brave; the question of censorship is pretty raw. When an administration calls you to alter or change words or content, I wonder sometimes if they are aware of the copyright laws that protect writers from having their work altered.

 You have community standards, and the ever-present threat of "I just don't want to get any parent phone calls.'

Some folks deal with this in different ways. Some schools have super helpful administration who are deeply supportive. Some situations you have to try to leverage. One teacher I read of asked that all parent complaints be directed to him personally, and they would explain the whys, the wherefores, and in their case, parents could see why choices were made.

I have been shot down twice in my school career. One was for a published anthology of student work for my Creative Writing class, where a student wrote a piece (very tongue in cheek) about how to survive the Zombie apocalypse. In the piece she mentioned stockpiling guns and ammo to be ready when the Zombies come kick in your door. On the insistence of my principal at the time, I pulled the piece, with his reasoning that guns and the idea of killing (even imaginary Zombies) should never be in any kind of production with the school's name on it. I do think on reflection that context really determines what the intent of the piece was, but I didn't fight it, desiring his support for further activities. The same principal later agreed that we could do 'West Side Story,' natch.

A later circumstance involved a theatre class' devised piece. The students really wanted to create a piece that centered around understanding school shootings. We started exploring it, and the students were working with the most passion than I had seen all year. I had a sneaking suspicion that it might be too raw for my principal, so I again approached and discussed the idea.

I got as far as 'My students want to do an original piece exploring school shootings..."

That's as far as we ever got. My students wrote a couple letters, but were also shot down. Ultimately, my students got an excellent lesson in what happens in censorship cases, though unfortunately it knocked a great deal of fire out of them. So they also gained a finer sense of cynicism, too.

I am really on the fence about the censorship issue. My natural instinct is to rebel and question authority, multiple times a day, but I also am a married father of three who wants to ensure that bread is on the table. I do believe there are smarter ways to work around the system, without putting a great red target on your back. As I get older, I'm definitely getting smarter on that.

I really look forward to the responses to this discussion!

------------------------------
Phillip Goodchild
Ruskin FL
------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 03-31-2015 11:59
From: Cathy Archer
Subject: Censorship of High Schools Plays

     I have a very talented student who  is contemplating writing a play around the theme/idea of censorship in High school theatre. We are looking for real  life experiences that directors and students have encountered concerning this issue. What types of plays have been censored? What is the reason for the censorship?  What did you/the students do to combat the censorship?  Did you overcome the censorship?  Thank you for your help with this project. 

------------------------------
Cathy Archer
Rutland VT
------------------------------

I have a story I can share on this front. Have your student e-mail me at Jessica_L_Speck@mcpsmd.org and I can give him/her some details.

------------------------------
Jessica Speck
Teacher
Montgomery County Public Schools
Rockville MD
------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 03-31-2015 11:59
From: Cathy Archer
Subject: Censorship of High Schools Plays

     I have a very talented student who  is contemplating writing a play around the theme/idea of censorship in High school theatre. We are looking for real  life experiences that directors and students have encountered concerning this issue. What types of plays have been censored? What is the reason for the censorship?  What did you/the students do to combat the censorship?  Did you overcome the censorship?  Thank you for your help with this project. 

------------------------------
Cathy Archer
Rutland VT
------------------------------

Also, I should mention, that this is something Howard Sherman has written about and covered quite extensively over the last couple of years on his blog and twitter account.

------------------------------
Jessica Speck
Teacher
Montgomery County Public Schools
Rockville MD
------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 04-01-2015 07:39
From: Jessica Speck
Subject: Censorship of High Schools Plays

I have a story I can share on this front. Have your student e-mail me at Jessica_L_Speck@mcpsmd.org<Jessica_L_Speck@mcpsmd.org> and I can give him/her some details.

------------------------------
Jessica Speck
Teacher
Montgomery County Public Schools
Rockville MD
------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 03-31-2015 11:59
From: Cathy Archer
Subject: Censorship of High Schools Plays

     I have a very talented student who  is contemplating writing a play around the theme/idea of censorship in High school theatre. We are looking for real  life experiences that directors and students have encountered concerning this issue. What types of plays have been censored? What is the reason for the censorship?  What did you/the students do to combat the censorship?  Did you overcome the censorship?  Thank you for your help with this project. 

------------------------------
Cathy Archer
Rutland VT
------------------------------

I have many stories about this topic, many  infuriating, some quite funny.

In the fall of 1981, I was a second year teacher (young, arrogant, no job security and a family to support.)

I was called in to the Principal's office. He asked me if it was true that I was planning on doing "Inherit the Wind." I told him I was, that it was a great play, etc, etc.... He simply said "We would rather you not do this play."

I asked why.

He repeated "We would rather you not do this play."

I told him the play was based on an actual historic trial about academic freedom.

He did not see the irony. He repeated "We would rather you not do this play."

I asked him if he had ever read the play. He answered "No."

I asked him who had told him to tell me not to do the play.

He directed me to an Assistant Superintendent at the District Office.

I went to see him and asked what the problem was....

It turned out that a few months prior to this, a member of our school board had tried to amend a new high school biology text with a tract from the Scientific Creationist Society. Someone at the American Civil Liberties Union caught wind of it and told the school board that if they tried to approve a religious tract as a science book, they would sue them.

It seems the play was too close to current events, and this made them uncomfortable. The Assistant Superintendent said he was worried we would get pickets at the theatre. I told him this would be a great way to get some publicity.

I eventually realized I wasn't going to get my way here, and that I had to have a back up plan.

I wound up doing "Whose Life is it Anyway?" a much more controversial play in my opinion, but I didn't make the mistake of putting the word "controversial" in the press release, so I was able to proceed unmolested.

Conclusion 1: As soon as I got tenure, I mounted a production of "Inherit the Wind." Nobody tried to stop me. I do it every few years, just for good measure. As a matter of fact, I think I'll do it again next year.

Conclusion 2: I met Jerome Lawrence at a Thespian Festival a few years later. I told him this story, and he seemed to be hurt. He told me he had gone through Army boot camp not far from where I was teaching, and felt rather disrespected by the whole thing.

Conclusion 3: Fast forward about 30 years...the Assistant Superintendent now worked for the agency that oversees teacher's retirement in California. I had a meeting with him to go over my retirement plans. He remembered me, and we chatted about the old days. I asked if he remembered the time he told me I couldn't do "Inherit The Wind." He didn't remember it.

It was one of the defining moments of my career.

I work in a different school district now.

------------------------------
Billy Houck

Fremont High School
Sunnyvale CA
------------------------------

PS- I have more stories. Anyone want to hear more?

I live in a fairly small community that is very conservative when it comes to a play's subject matter. I have never been censored, but then again, I live in a small community that is very conservative when it comes to a play's subject matter... I'm careful about the subjects I choose as a result, so I guess I feel it necessary to self censor.
------------------------------
Darren Means
Hardin MT
------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 03-31-2015 11:59
From: Cathy Archer
Subject: Censorship of High Schools Plays

     I have a very talented student who  is contemplating writing a play around the theme/idea of censorship in High school theatre. We are looking for real  life experiences that directors and students have encountered concerning this issue. What types of plays have been censored? What is the reason for the censorship?  What did you/the students do to combat the censorship?  Did you overcome the censorship?  Thank you for your help with this project. 

------------------------------
Cathy Archer
Rutland VT
------------------------------

If I have learned anything in thirty years of teaching, it's that you never get in trouble for the things for which you think you'll get in trouble, while you often get in trouble for things for which you never thought you'd get in trouble.

For some years, I taught Lysistrata to an advanced sophomore theatre class in a very conservative public school district.  Never heard a peep from any parent.

But get this.  In the late 1980s, a friend and I wrote a one-act play for my then-co-director to stage for our district Thespian festival.  It had some pretty dicey language in its portrayal of various types of prejudice, but of course the point of that was to criticize such prejudice.  We did well with the judges, and cast members won three of the festival's four acting awards.  Now, fast-forward about fifteen years.  Two of my former students, having gone into the publishing business, remembered that script and asked to see it.  My co-author and I took it out, but decided to revise it before sending it off.  To do that, we planned to revive the play through my troupe for that year's district Thespian festival.  Before we could hold auditions, however, my principal intervened because of "concerns" (his word) that had been expressed "from inside and outside of the school," whatever that meant.  Ultimately he said that he could not allow a play with so much rough language to represent the school, even though it would only have been presented at a closed festival attended by pre-registered Thespian troupes, and even though it would carry a program warning about potentially offensive language and subject matter.  I found it stunning that we were blocked from performing a play that we had previously performed to great acclaim.  (Fun side note: when my former students actually published the play, the first production to be licensed was staged at a private Christian school. Go figure.)
------------------------------
Jeff Grove
Theatre Teacher, Aesthetics Department Chair
Stanton College Preparatory School
Jacksonville FL

Here's a story with a happier ending.

Several years ago, my co-director and I decided to stage a production of Urinetown.  Our principal was concerned about the title, and asked to read the script.  After she did so, she sent us a note asking us to "select another musical" for production.  She said that she was particularly concerned about how often the word "pee" was used in the script.  (Really?  Parents use that word with little kids.  But I digress.)  She did say that if we thought we could change her mind, she was willing to listen to us and to reconsider her decision.

We explained to her that reading the script of a musical without listening to its music is a misleading way to screen the show.  We told her that it was like eating frozen orange-juice concentrate straight out of the can, without mixing it with water first.  We pulled out a portable CD player, popped in the show's original-cast album, and played "Run, Freedom, Run" for her.  We then gave her the CD and asked her to re-read the script, this time stopping long enough each time she came to a song to play and listen to that song.  About a week later, she came back to us and said, "I think that I'm going to get in trouble no matter what I decide, so if I'm going to get in trouble, I'd rather err on the side of the students."  With that, we were allowed to proceed.  She came to our dress rehearsal to see the results, and after the first act ended, she told us, "Now I don't even see why I had a problem with this.  It's wonderful!"

She became one of our biggest fans, and we earned both her trust and her respect.

------------------------------
Jeff Grove
Theatre Teacher, Aesthetics Department Chair
Stanton College Preparatory School
Jacksonville FL

Really funny story about 'Urinetown' from a colleague of mine, whose principal had no problem with the play, but wondered if there was a way to change the title?

My friend suggested P***berg as an alternative.

The principal saw his point.

'Urinetown' it is then!

------------------------------
Phillip Goodchild
Ruskin FL
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 04-02-2015 09:56
From: Jeff Grove
Subject: Censorship of High Schools Plays

Here's a story with a happier ending.

Several years ago, my co-director and I decided to stage a production of Urinetown.  Our principal was concerned about the title, and asked to read the script.  After she did so, she sent us a note asking us to "select another musical" for production.  She said that she was particularly concerned about how often the word "pee" was used in the script.  (Really?  Parents use that word with little kids.  But I digress.)  She did say that if we thought we could change her mind, she was willing to listen to us and to reconsider her decision.

We explained to her that reading the script of a musical without listening to its music is a misleading way to screen the show.  We told her that it was like eating frozen orange-juice concentrate straight out of the can, without mixing it with water first.  We pulled out a portable CD player, popped in the show's original-cast album, and played "Run, Freedom, Run" for her.  We then gave her the CD and asked her to re-read the script, this time stopping long enough each time she came to a song to play and listen to that song.  About a week later, she came back to us and said, "I think that I'm going to get in trouble no matter what I decide, so if I'm going to get in trouble, I'd rather err on the side of the students."  With that, we were allowed to proceed.  She came to our dress rehearsal to see the results, and after the first act ended, she told us, "Now I don't even see why I had a problem with this.  It's wonderful!"

She became one of our biggest fans, and we earned both her trust and her respect.

------------------------------
Jeff Grove
Theatre Teacher, Aesthetics Department Chair
Stanton College Preparatory School
Jacksonville FL

The funniest way I have been censored was when I was told that i could not perform "Once Upon an Mattress".... No matter how many times I explained that it was just the Princess and the Pea and that the princess was alone in the mattress the Vice Principal in charge kept repeating ...."yea but MATTRESS???" and raising his eyebrows..... we did Grease this year instead...apparently it's much more family friendly.

------------------------------
Zachary Mazouat
Morristown NJ
------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 03-31-2015 11:59
From: Cathy Archer
Subject: Censorship of High Schools Plays

     I have a very talented student who  is contemplating writing a play around the theme/idea of censorship in High school theatre. We are looking for real  life experiences that directors and students have encountered concerning this issue. What types of plays have been censored? What is the reason for the censorship?  What did you/the students do to combat the censorship?  Did you overcome the censorship?  Thank you for your help with this project. 

------------------------------
Cathy Archer
Rutland VT
------------------------------

This is a story of student enpowerment. I submitted to the administrators the script by Jim Leonard, Jr "And They Dance Real Slow in Jackson." The submission was one of courtesy, so that admin would know what was "going on in the theater." This play has at its core, small town ignorance. What played out was a life lesson in small minded thinking. The adminstrator stood at my office door, saying "You will not this play. I will pursue this to the highest power" I resisted asking if he meant God, the Supreme Court, or was he talking about a math term? I calmly asked his objection-some of the stage directions were not suitable. I explained that stage directions are sometimes followed; sometimes not. He also wanted power to delete the words "Jesus Christ." If you know the play, Elizabeth helps Skeeter study for confirmation, so one of the lines reads, "Who is the chief body and soul of the church?" The answer is "Jesus Christ." I again calmly asked about the contract we had signed to keep the language as the playwright presentd it, and what ideas that he had to answer the character's question. Previously this principal had wanted us to change the ending of "Grease," so Sandy did not become "bad." I calmly contact my union rep to attend any meetings with this principal and me. I gathered the students to announce that the play may be cancelled. Then I let the students take it on, while I continued to calmly meet with district level asst. superintendents. I met with Theatre parents, as well. The students organized a silent protest by getting their friends and other of my fellow teachers to wear light blue arm bands to an all school assembly. Light blue was the color of Dramatist's play cover. One student's parent and the girl who was scheduled to play the lead was an ACLU lawyer, so the LA TIMES called Jim Leoonard, Jr, who in essence said this is exactly why I wrote the play. Press was on campus. Theatre student advocated for the program and working with adminstratiors. Well, in a week, we had backing from district level so the play went on and sold out for each performance. The next school year the principal was not there, and I was. Side note-the principal became ASB Director at my daughter's high school. As ASB president, she worked closely with this man. My daughter never told him. The last name of Jones is quite common. ------------------------------ Gai Jones Ojai CA ------------------------------
Original Message: Sent: 03-31-2015 11:59 From: Cathy Archer Subject: Censorship of High Schools Plays I have a very talented student who is contemplating writing a play around the theme/idea of censorship in High school theatre. We are looking for real life experiences that directors and students have encountered concerning this issue. What types of plays have been censored? What is the reason for the censorship? What did you/the students do to combat the censorship? Did you overcome the censorship? Thank you for your help with this project. ------------------------------ Cathy Archer Rutland VT ------------------------------

Hey Cathy!

Almost anything can be censored, it seems. A few years back you mounted a production of my Harry's Hotter at Twilight. That same play was in rehearsal at a high school in Kentucky earlier this school year, when the teacher wrote to say that some parents complained the script was "over sexualized," though she found nothing wrong with it, and her "drama kids find it funny." But they ended up folding from the pressure and picking something else. Often, understandably, teachers take the path of least resistance.

Far worse was the cancellation of a production of my anti-bullying and anti-violence plays, Thank You for Flushing My Head in the Toilet and other rarely used expressions (which is widely produced in middle schools) and Now You See Me, respectively, in Columbia, MO back in 2008 just a few weeks before their performance. I was even scheduled to be headed there as a guest artist. There was a bit of press about it at the time, with the second and third articles being the most useful. These were at a middle school, but the issues are the same as at the high school level.

http://www.columbiamissourian.com/a/100705/smithton-middle-school-cancels-spring-plays/

http://archive.columbiatribune.com/2008/mar/20080309Comm009.asp

http://archive.columbiatribune.com/2008/feb/20080212news006.asp

In this case, the teacher pulled the plays under pressure, and if memory serves, she decided to leave the school at the end of the year. (At one point she was looking into alternate venues, but could never quite pull it off. That takes a lot of work.)

Third example: I met a teacher from Kansas who was producing my teen suicide-related play, The Locker Next 2 Mine, whose administration came to him with a list of elements in the play that were cause for concern. It ranged from a series of words to, as I recall, references to the student maybe having hung himself in his garage. He had a colored sheet, organized with objections in different colors (he personally had no problems with any of it, and had seen Max Brown's excellent production), and we took some time to look at them. I tried to work with him on the minor things--for instance, with some alternate word choices--but on anything substantial, we agreed it was important for him to stick to his guns, and apparently he did (buttressed by his being able to report that the playwright felt these were important elements of the play and couldn't be eliminated) and reported back that they staged a successful production, with no complaints or negative feedback, but instead positive feedback from parents and the community.

For any of you out there who are fighting the censorship battle, often we playwrights are happy to help, though in most cases the line gets drawn at changes that fundamentally alter the play.

Cathy, you might also have your student hunt down the 2002 film version of Bang Bang You're Dead by my friend Bill Mastrosimone (ironically, his play and Now You See Me were on a double bill together in NYC some years ago), which is not so much a straight version of the play, but rather a film about the production of the play at a high school where it faces potential censorship.

Best,
Jonathan

------------------------------
Jonathan Dorf
Playwright/ Co-founder of YouthPLAYS/ Co-chair of The Alliance Of Los Angeles Playwrights
Los Angeles CA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 03-31-2015 11:59
From: Cathy Archer
Subject: Censorship of High Schools Plays

     I have a very talented student who  is contemplating writing a play around the theme/idea of censorship in High school theatre. We are looking for real  life experiences that directors and students have encountered concerning this issue. What types of plays have been censored? What is the reason for the censorship?  What did you/the students do to combat the censorship?  Did you overcome the censorship?  Thank you for your help with this project. 

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Cathy Archer
Rutland VT
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I somehow avoided being censored when I was teaching, despite writing many plays that skirted the line. I've had parents complain over the years - (there was an objection that the Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon contained "cannibalism" - you know, in Hansel and Gretel) - I didn't even get in trouble for "Gangsta Claus". Somehow. I don't know how I managed to survive a middle school Christmas play that ends in four dead bodies on the stage...

 The silliest episode of censorship of one of my plays happened in North Dakota. A school was preparing to do my play, "The SeussOdyssey" for the state one-act play festival (as you can imagine, the play is a Dr. Seuss-like retelling of Homer's Odyssey) - I got an email from the director stating that due to state rules, there could be no references to alcohol in any of the plays. So she wondered if she could take out the references to wine and replace them with grape juice.

Because that makes so much sense.

Because if the kids see representations of people drinking wine 2,800 years ago and then getting slaughtered, they might think drinking wine and trying to seduce Penelope was cool.

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Don Zolidis
Cedar Park TX
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Original Message:
Sent: 03-31-2015 11:59
From: Cathy Archer
Subject: Censorship of High Schools Plays

     I have a very talented student who  is contemplating writing a play around the theme/idea of censorship in High school theatre. We are looking for real  life experiences that directors and students have encountered concerning this issue. What types of plays have been censored? What is the reason for the censorship?  What did you/the students do to combat the censorship?  Did you overcome the censorship?  Thank you for your help with this project. 

------------------------------
Cathy Archer
Rutland VT
------------------------------

Hi everyone,

I read through the posts, and I was just wondering what everyone thinks about student writing and censorship.  I'm having students write comedy sketches in class.  One of the sketches has a character who drinks too much.  That student was proud of what they had written and they shared it with their parents.  Their parents thought it was too offensive, and they are making him rewrite the sketch.  

I'm only in my second year teaching.  It also takes quite a bit to offend me.  Where do you draw the line as far as student writing?  Do you give students a "do not write about" list?  For example, student writing should not include references to alcohol, drugs, sexual situations, etc. etc.?

Thanks!

------------------------------
John Smith
Drama Teacher
Hardy AR

Original Message:
Sent: 04-04-2015 11:04
From: Don Zolidis
Subject: Censorship of High Schools Plays

I somehow avoided being censored when I was teaching, despite writing many plays that skirted the line. I've had parents complain over the years - (there was an objection that the Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon contained "cannibalism" - you know, in Hansel and Gretel) - I didn't even get in trouble for "Gangsta Claus". Somehow. I don't know how I managed to survive a middle school Christmas play that ends in four dead bodies on the stage...

 The silliest episode of censorship of one of my plays happened in North Dakota. A school was preparing to do my play, "The SeussOdyssey" for the state one-act play festival (as you can imagine, the play is a Dr. Seuss-like retelling of Homer's Odyssey) - I got an email from the director stating that due to state rules, there could be no references to alcohol in any of the plays. So she wondered if she could take out the references to wine and replace them with grape juice.

Because that makes so much sense.

Because if the kids see representations of people drinking wine 2,800 years ago and then getting slaughtered, they might think drinking wine and trying to seduce Penelope was cool.

------------------------------
Don Zolidis
Cedar Park TX
------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 03-31-2015 11:59
From: Cathy Archer
Subject: Censorship of High Schools Plays

     I have a very talented student who  is contemplating writing a play around the theme/idea of censorship in High school theatre. We are looking for real  life experiences that directors and students have encountered concerning this issue. What types of plays have been censored? What is the reason for the censorship?  What did you/the students do to combat the censorship?  Did you overcome the censorship?  Thank you for your help with this project. 

------------------------------
Cathy Archer
Rutland VT
------------------------------

 My rule when it comes to drugs and alcohol is that the final message has to be anti .  Their use can not be glorified or appear positive.  I think it is important to have the discussion about responsible, legal use of alcohol.  I have not ever had any issues with parents with scenes using these guidelines.

Cathy

------------------------------
Cathy Archer
Rutland VT

Original Message:
Sent: 12-04-2015 16:41
From: John Smith
Subject: Censorship of High Schools Plays

Hi everyone,

I read through the posts, and I was just wondering what everyone thinks about student writing and censorship.  I'm having students write comedy sketches in class.  One of the sketches has a character who drinks too much.  That student was proud of what they had written and they shared it with their parents.  Their parents thought it was too offensive, and they are making him rewrite the sketch.  

I'm only in my second year teaching.  It also takes quite a bit to offend me.  Where do you draw the line as far as student writing?  Do you give students a "do not write about" list?  For example, student writing should not include references to alcohol, drugs, sexual situations, etc. etc.?

Thanks!

------------------------------
John Smith
Drama Teacher
Hardy AR

While administering the amateur dept at MTI, there was quite a ruckus concerning race & the N-word when RAGTIME went into general release (~2006-2008). I've linked to several articles below; further info on each of these 3 instances is probably still online with more specific search terms.

I'm just realizing that this thread is over 6 months old, but wanted to reply nonetheless.

Not in answer to the post above re: student writing & censorship, but speaking to the OP from April.

Wilmette Park District (Chicago) / Playbill.com (good quote from Lynn Ahrens, author)

Perry Meridian HS (Indianapolis) / UPI wire service

St Louis Park HS

In Chicago, they cancelled the production so as not to offend; in Indianapolis they went on with the production despite protests, and in St Louis is appears admin required the production to change the word --- w/o obtaining permission.

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Michael McDonough
New York NY

Original Message:
Sent: 03-31-2015 11:59
From: Cathy Archer
Subject: Censorship of High Schools Plays

     I have a very talented student who  is contemplating writing a play around the theme/idea of censorship in High school theatre. We are looking for real  life experiences that directors and students have encountered concerning this issue. What types of plays have been censored? What is the reason for the censorship?  What did you/the students do to combat the censorship?  Did you overcome the censorship?  Thank you for your help with this project. 

------------------------------
Cathy Archer
Rutland VT
------------------------------

This is, I'm sorry to say, a rerun of my (freshly typed) opinions in response to Phillip Goodchild's censorship problem (that's a strain you should read a relay to your young playwright!), but I think a lot of censorship comes from stakeholders (often parents and community members who pressure a decision maker like an administrator) seeing (and objecting to) pieces of an artistic puzzle and failing to see the greater picture, thereby showing that they have a facile understanding of what art IS.  A work of any sophistication has in it opinions or points of view that are disagreeable, but the work's own point of view must be evaluated holistically.  Do we judge To Kill a Mockingbird, based on Bob Ewell's perspective or on the larger message of the novel?  

Here's another thought for your playwright to consider: People are funny (and personal) in what they object to.  And there's, perhaps, a lot to be written about here.  Why, for instance, do parents of middle and high school students object more strenuously to works that are rated "mature" for reasons of sex than violence?  I'm not advocated for children to be exposed to either sexual or violent themes inappropriately or before they are ready for it, of course, but both topics SHOULD give parents pause, and yet often the same adults who will bristle at teens being exposed to something that acknowledges the human fact of sex will turn a blind eye to letting them see ultra violent movies, TV, video games, etc. (particularly the kind in which violence IS the source of entertainment and not dealt with as a significant issue).  Or, why do people object in one medium but not another?  (E.g. "Play all the violent video games you want and watch an endless stream of rated R movies, but heaven forbid a live play have one mild curse word.")  Or how time (and cultural "legitimacy") plays into people's opinions (e.g. "Macbeth murders everyone in his path, but you have to read that for your AP class and it's a know "classic."  But a school play that is more contemporary that includes a violent act?  No way.")  Or even how potent personal familiarity with or nostalgia for a particular cultural artifact can be in shaping people's opinions.  Example: There was a period when the middle school I teach at had a history and a tradition of performing more "adult" works (E.g. Disney's Aida, which, in the minds of the general community qualified as "dark.") We often got the complaint from parents: "Why don't you do something more kid-friendly?  You know, let the kids be kids?"  On the occasions I would get up the gumption to ask "what would you like them to perform?" They would often say "Grease!" a musical, which, I personally think has a positively morally reprehensible message of "change yourself to get the guy."  But they liked it because they grew up with it while they were criticizing our production of Children of Eden for being too dark and adult.  (And, by the way, when we took their advice of "let the kids play kids" and mounted a production of Jason Robert Brown's 13, large swaths the community LOST THEIR MINDS because their middle school kids were portraying middle school kids who *gasp* were preoccupied with dating!)

There is so much terrain for a young playwright, and I hope yours dives in and I, for one, would be very excited to see the results.  So many facets to explore, many of which I've mentioned here (a misunderstanding about what art is, a selective caring about what kids are exposed to, the knee-jerk acceptance of the familiar and the knee-jerk scrutiny of what is not, an over-valuing of what is perceived to be "light" and "fun" at the expense of an examination of actual message) and some that I've not (the dismissal of teenage students as actual, thinking people who can and should engage with big ideas and not be shielded from them).  Another footnote: another thing to consider is a creeping conservatism in American culture.  Perhaps it's more correctly framed as a swinging pendulum (but, in America, that pendulum always, if only occasionally, seems to swing back to our nations puritanical roots).  In short, I'm not sure that the community in which I teach, which five or ten years ago per my anecdote, was crying out for Grease would even allow for that show now, but not for the objections that I cited earlier (its overall message).  Instead I think it would be a harder sell because of references to hot-button issues like teenage drinking and dating, etc.  Now, I didn't want to do it then, nor do I want to do it now, but I do find it interesting that the reasons for any possible objection have changed.

Good luck to you and your student!

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Ryan Moore
Theatre Teacher and Forensics Coach
Royal Oak MI

Original Message:
Sent: 03-31-2015 11:59
From: Cathy Archer
Subject: Censorship of High Schools Plays

     I have a very talented student who  is contemplating writing a play around the theme/idea of censorship in High school theatre. We are looking for real  life experiences that directors and students have encountered concerning this issue. What types of plays have been censored? What is the reason for the censorship?  What did you/the students do to combat the censorship?  Did you overcome the censorship?  Thank you for your help with this project. 

------------------------------
Cathy Archer
Rutland VT
------------------------------

I have some stories if you are still looking.  :)

Other than that, I think that this is a very important topic.Will it be well received by your community and administration? If it's not, is there another arena where your student can mount a production? Or is this something that is specifically for your school? 

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Shira Schwartz
Chandler Unified School District
Chandler AZ

Original Message:
Sent: 03-31-2015 11:59
From: Cathy Archer
Subject: Censorship of High Schools Plays

     I have a very talented student who  is contemplating writing a play around the theme/idea of censorship in High school theatre. We are looking for real  life experiences that directors and students have encountered concerning this issue. What types of plays have been censored? What is the reason for the censorship?  What did you/the students do to combat the censorship?  Did you overcome the censorship?  Thank you for your help with this project. 

------------------------------
Cathy Archer
Rutland VT
------------------------------