As a theatre teacher, I am well aware of how the sword of censorship is always hanging around my neck. In my 22 years of teaching, it has swung a few times and mighty close to the ol’ head, but I got to be a good ducker! Censorship is always such an interesting thing at this age level. I am always struck by the contridictions. Schools can take a wonderful novel like The Color Purple and require it as reading for a senior literature class, even though it contains a few simple lesbian scenes. BUT, god forbid, I staged an accurate rendetion of this novel, even carefully minimizing the lesbian issues, I would be closed down in a few minutes. We can take the nudity in the sculpture class. We can read novels of scandolous, controversial, even abhorant behavior, but, when it comes to the stage. the use of the word “shit” still sparks quite the debate with the powers that be. Funny, huh?
I am thinking that everyone is a bit afraid of the “voodoo we do” in the theatre. If a child reads a novel with a gay character they will be fine, but, if we present a gay character on stage we are oddly trying to recruit them. I am not sure how this works . . . Suffice it to say that there is a magic that we do in the theatre that both amazes and frightens people. They are cautious.
I am absolutley behind the need to censor theatre in high school. I get how these are children and not adults. I get that parents want a few more years of assumed shaping of their child’s future. In fact, I want more censorship! I want all bad work to be banned. I want to see bad productions and bad plays and bad acting and bad directing tossed into the fires of censorship. I join Oscar Wilde in claiming that the only immoral work is the work that is poorly done. Imminent acting coach Lee Strasberg was attributed with saying that the greatest harm done to the future of theatre is bad high school theatre. Please, please censor!!! – – just make sure you are after the right thing!