High School Theatre Censorship

 

NCAC urges Superintendent to reverse his decision to ban student play

On February 25, school board members in La Grande, OR voted to uphold Superintendent Larry Glaze’s decision to censor a student production of Steve Martin’s “Picasso at the Lapin Agile”, ignoring spirited and articulate appeals from the High School principal and drama teacher. It was yet another disturbing case of school officials catering to the more censorious voices in their community. Prior to the board meeting, NCAC urged Superintendent Glaze to reconsider his decision. Read our arguement here.

Student Play About Iraq War Censored

Edward Albee, Stephen Sondheim, Christopher Durang, Marsha Norman, John Guare, and other prominent members of the Dramatists Guild joined NCAC and other free speech advocates to oppose the censorship of a student play about Iraq in Wilton, CT.  Wilton High School’s Principal cancelled the play due to questions of “political balance” and context.  A press release said the school plans to continue conversation about the issue, but still objects to the play’s use of found media and that the students planned to act out the roles of soldiers. Read more here.

 

Controversy: Embrace it!
By Svetlana Mintcheva and Joan Bertin 

In the last two decades direct censorship of theater has waned.  Arrests of actors and theater employees involved in allegedly “obscene” productions such as May West’s plays in the 1920s and Richard Schechner’s Dionysus in 69 or Kenneth Tynan’s Oh! Calcutta! in the 1960s and 70s are, for the most part, a distant memory. Yet, on the high school stage – which also happens to be the largest theatrical stage in the U.S. today—the spirits of 19^th century censorship czar Anthony Comstock and his late 20^th century follower, Charles Keating, still reign supreme. Students’ first encounters with high school theater productions are likely to be also their first encounters with censorship. Read the entire article here.