An Open Letter From THAW: on recent censorship
Sunday, April 08, 2007
An Open Letter From THAW
An Open Letter Concerning the Recent Occurrences of Censorship
Last month a group of public high school students in Wilton Connecticut were told by their principal that they could not perform “Voices in Conflict,” a play they wrote based on the words of soldiers serving in Iraq because it could be construed as “anti-war” and might upset the audience. Principal Timothy Canty went on to suggest that the students didn’t “know enough” and didn’t have the right to speak about the war. The play includes the words of a 19 year old Wilton graduate recently killed in Iraq.
Within the same month at John Jay High School in Lewisboro, NY, three student actors were suspended because they dared to use the word ‘vagina’ in their reading of the critically acclaimed play, “The Vagina Monologues.” Their principal, Richard Leprine, said the girls were punished because they had “disobeyed orders” in speaking the word. “The Vagina Monologues” often draws criticism from conservative groups where it is performed.
More recently, recalling last year’s controversy at the New York Theater Workshop, the board of the Mosaic Theatre in Miami has announced that “My Name is Rachel Corrie” will be pulled from their season, despite a committed artistic team and initial support for production, which was to be performed in repertoire with Heather Raffo’s “9 Parts of Desire.” A subsequent press release from the theater cited objections from an impassioned, vocal minority in the community.
Isolated, these occurrences might reflect local discomfort about a particular issue. But viewed as part of the political landscape of today’s America, these cancellations cease to be isolated events and begin to highlight a frightening reality- that in today’s climate of atrophied public discourse, artists are increasingly subject to censorship based on the content of their work. James Presson, a 16 year old actor in “Voices of Conflict” told the New York Times, “Our school is all about censorship. People don’t talk about the things that matter.” Sadly, this problem goes well beyond the walls of a Connecticut high school. Indeed, this silence on “things that matter” has pervaded even the most respected of cultural and educational institutions.
That an artist of any age or medium is under pressure to create work devoid of critical questioning about the most important of issues is not only alarming for the artist but indeed for society as a whole. Noted U.S. Historian Howard Zinn has said this of the relationship between the artist and society: “It is the job of the artist to think outside the boundaries of permissible thought and dare say things that no one else will say.” Many celebrated artists have dared to do this, just as many artists today continue to pursue work that challenges the social and political workings of our time. We recognize this as bright light in a dark age. But that vital political artwork can so easily be canceled by an uneasy administration or board of directors is of great concern. Of course, what Principal Canty and others may not realize is that in trying to silence his students, he may have had the opposite effect. Indeed we hope so. But while these instances of censorship may serve to galvanize some to speak even louder, the restrictive thinking behind the censorship persists and if not challenged, threatens to take firmer hold in our society.
As we face the possibility of censorship in our own life and work, let us remember Zinn’s words and the importance of a dissenting voice in the arts- robbed of this, the artist risks becoming, at best, a mere jester; at worst, a mouth piece for an oppressive dominant culture. For the sake of so many, we cannot afford to be silent about the “things that matter.” We recognize that certain powers will always have an eye on the artist, wanting to keep her confined to a corner, safely removed and politically benign. We recognize this and we resist this. We stand by our fellow artists and arts producers, be they high school students or seasoned veterans, who exhibit great courage in creating bold political artwork that challenges the way we think and operate. And we challenge those who have not been so courageous to be so now.
In the spirit of healthy dialogue, and to better understand the challenges that citizen-artists face today, we invite response to this letter.
In Solidarity,
THEATERS AGAINST WAR
