Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board: offensive language

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Rorgg
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Joined: 2/10/09
Location: United States
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Posts: 151

Posted: 2/27/09 at 4:19pm

Funny, we touched on this subject last week while discussing an upcoming show of one-acts. One the one hand is a very short comedy that has a character drop the f-bomb once (maybe twice?) during a 4-way crosstalk where everyone's yelling. During the auditions, you couldn't make out what anyone was saying.

The directors decided for that reason to ASK permission of the playwright to modify it, since it really isn't necessary.

On the other hand, the longer piece we're doing has 5 of them in it, but they're really just a piece of art and nothing else conveys the same reaction (4 in a row), so the director of that piece never even considered it.

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Chris Polo
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Community Theater Green Room

Joined: 10/01/03
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 166

Posted: 3/07/09 at 1:36pm

Tristan, I'm totally with you on this one; like some others here, different directors in our theater have changed language, but it's something I don't believe I've ever done as a director. I've certainly inadvertently rewritten lines as an actress, particularly as I've gotten older, but never deliberately as a director!

Interestingly enough, I just finished working as a consulting director (in our theater, that's an experienced director who works with anyone directing with us for the first time) on "As Bees in Honey Drown." If you're not familiar with the show, the F-bomb is dropped on page 3 and continues to be used extensively throughout, along with several other "naughty words," plus the hero is a gay man who thinks he's fallen in love with a woman, only to find his true life partner -- another gay man - by the end of the show.

We're in a small conservative community as well, so the board was understandably apprehensive about allowing him to do this show but didn't have a lot of choice, as very few directors had stepped up to the plate this season. Everyone essentially gritted their teeth and resigned themselves to very small houses (with a few less patrons by the end of each performance than had originally walked through the doors at the start of the evening), probably a few angry letters from offended patrons, and possibly some coward who didn't want to sign their name calling in to the local paper's anonymous "sound-off" column.

A few people walked out before the end of the first act on opening night, but we could tell that everyone else was enjoying it from the general audience response throughout the evening. Even so, the director and I were stunned when we heard the audience going "awww" and applauding when the gay couple wound up together, as well as by the wild applause at curtain call.

We saw the same thing every night through the run of the show, with the exception of the walkouts -- there were no more after the first performance. One regular patron, a very religious man in his 70's who is also a local newspaper columnist, saw it opening night, and yes, he used his column to chide us for putting it on. Probably in response to his column, we started receiving letters and emails from others who'd seen the show -- in fact, more than we've ever received in response to any show that I can remember, and I've been there for almost 20 years. Every one of them was positive, raving about what a different, wonderful show it had been and how much they'd enjoyed it. We even had the pleasure of seeing the local columnist issue a retraction and point out that his opinion had not been the norm, as several of his family members who had loved the show had jumped him for what he'd written about it.

I think every now and then, a theater needs to stick its neck out and test the waters to see what their audiences will tolerate. We're not about to offer a steady diet of edgy, profanity-laden shows, but I think we learned that our audiences are not as stodgy as we think we are, and that if a really good show is worth doing, it can be left intact and done as the writer intended it to be done.

Chris Polo
Visit Community Theater Green Room Originals at www.cafepress.com/ctgr
"The scenery in the play was beautiful, but the actors got in front of it." -- Alexander Woolcott

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tristanrobin
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Joined: 4/25/05
Location: United States
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Posts: 704

Posted: 3/07/09 at 9:47pm

well, where have you been? I haven't seen you post in quite a while!

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VPA1
Star
Star

Joined: 10/20/06
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 54

Posted: 4/02/09 at 3:23pm

My, I'm honored to have Ms. Polo respond to this issue. Thank you for your pov, and yours as well Tristan. Interesting to note that over 80% of the respondents to this question favor adapting language to one extent or another.

Three years ago, I took over as AD for our CT. We were $27K in debt. The CT was going bankrupt, our board was making personal loans to cover the debt. We were on the verge of going under.

I took over and, along with our treasurer who shared my vision, changed the way we do business. More family friendly shows, no cutting edge stuff and adapt offensive language when called for. In short, I paid attention to our community and what they were telling us by their letters, their attendance and their patronage. I kept the COMMUNITY first in Community Theater. That is the fundamental difference between my predecessor and myself.

Now, and you may choose to believe this or not, we are out of debt and we have funds in the bank in excess of 6 figures. We are on the verge of expansion to a new performing arts building and our horizon is bright. Our community loves us and we are stronger than we have been in 34 seasons of community theater.

A person may argue the relative merits of changing offensive language, whether it offends the playwright, or is illegal or not, or whatever. What is not arguable is that instead of being buried in debt and on the verge of total collapse, our CT now thrives.

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Pandora
Walk-On
Walk-On

Joined: 10/01/07
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 3

Posted: 4/17/09 at 7:50pm

Sorry, but I'm a high school theater director who has done lots of shows myself where I used language that I wouldn't use in real life, yet would not use those same words on the high school stage. I tell my kids that i am violating our contract by changing, but that part of understanding relationships and dealing with others is understanding appropriateness. Our high school presents shows that our community expects to be entertainment for the family, including the four-year-olds who are old enough to sit through the performance. We did Footloose without a four-letter word and the audience loved it, and my kids understood that we were changing words to avoid offending the community. We did Music Man and changed "by-God stubborn" to gosh-darn stubborn." Yep, they may be baking me files in jail, but I will continue to both change language and to explain to my kids why I do it.

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Poll Question: Do any of you attenuate offensive language in your shows?
Poll Choice	Votes	Poll Statistics
We never change any language whatsover.	7	[17.50%]
Once in a blue moon we'll adapt some language.	8	[20.00%]
Changes are made occasionally.	20	[50.00%]
We regularly have changes made to language.	2	[5.00%]
We always change offensive language.	3	[7.50%]
This topic is closed, no new votes accepted

Polls
Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board :About the Community Theater Green Room :Polls

Author	Message
Rorgg Celebrity Joined: 2/10/09 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 151	Posted: 2/27/09 at 4:19pm
	Funny, we touched on this subject last week while discussing an upcoming show of one-acts. One the one hand is a very short comedy that has a character drop the f-bomb once (maybe twice?) during a 4-way crosstalk where everyone's yelling. During the auditions, you couldn't make out what anyone was saying. The directors decided for that reason to ASK permission of the playwright to modify it, since it really isn't necessary. On the other hand, the longer piece we're doing has 5 of them in it, but they're really just a piece of art and nothing else conveys the same reaction (4 in a row), so the director of that piece never even considered it.
	IP Logged

Chris Polo Admin Group Community Theater Green Room Joined: 10/01/03 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 166	Posted: 3/07/09 at 1:36pm
	Tristan, I'm totally with you on this one; like some others here, different directors in our theater have changed language, but it's something I don't believe I've ever done as a director. I've certainly inadvertently rewritten lines as an actress, particularly as I've gotten older, but never deliberately as a director! Interestingly enough, I just finished working as a consulting director (in our theater, that's an experienced director who works with anyone directing with us for the first time) on "As Bees in Honey Drown." If you're not familiar with the show, the F-bomb is dropped on page 3 and continues to be used extensively throughout, along with several other "naughty words," plus the hero is a gay man who thinks he's fallen in love with a woman, only to find his true life partner -- another gay man - by the end of the show. We're in a small conservative community as well, so the board was understandably apprehensive about allowing him to do this show but didn't have a lot of choice, as very few directors had stepped up to the plate this season. Everyone essentially gritted their teeth and resigned themselves to very small houses (with a few less patrons by the end of each performance than had originally walked through the doors at the start of the evening), probably a few angry letters from offended patrons, and possibly some coward who didn't want to sign their name calling in to the local paper's anonymous "sound-off" column. A few people walked out before the end of the first act on opening night, but we could tell that everyone else was enjoying it from the general audience response throughout the evening. Even so, the director and I were stunned when we heard the audience going "awww" and applauding when the gay couple wound up together, as well as by the wild applause at curtain call. We saw the same thing every night through the run of the show, with the exception of the walkouts -- there were no more after the first performance. One regular patron, a very religious man in his 70's who is also a local newspaper columnist, saw it opening night, and yes, he used his column to chide us for putting it on. Probably in response to his column, we started receiving letters and emails from others who'd seen the show -- in fact, more than we've ever received in response to any show that I can remember, and I've been there for almost 20 years. Every one of them was positive, raving about what a different, wonderful show it had been and how much they'd enjoyed it. We even had the pleasure of seeing the local columnist issue a retraction and point out that his opinion had not been the norm, as several of his family members who had loved the show had jumped him for what he'd written about it. I think every now and then, a theater needs to stick its neck out and test the waters to see what their audiences will tolerate. We're not about to offer a steady diet of edgy, profanity-laden shows, but I think we learned that our audiences are not as stodgy as we think we are, and that if a really good show is worth doing, it can be left intact and done as the writer intended it to be done.
	Chris Polo Visit Community Theater Green Room Originals at www.cafepress.com/ctgr "The scenery in the play was beautiful, but the actors got in front of it." -- Alexander Woolcott
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tristanrobin Celebrity Joined: 4/25/05 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 704	Posted: 3/07/09 at 9:47pm
	well, where have you been? I haven't seen you post in quite a while!
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VPA1 Star Joined: 10/20/06 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 54	Posted: 4/02/09 at 3:23pm
	My, I'm honored to have Ms. Polo respond to this issue. Thank you for your pov, and yours as well Tristan. Interesting to note that over 80% of the respondents to this question favor adapting language to one extent or another. Three years ago, I took over as AD for our CT. We were $27K in debt. The CT was going bankrupt, our board was making personal loans to cover the debt. We were on the verge of going under. I took over and, along with our treasurer who shared my vision, changed the way we do business. More family friendly shows, no cutting edge stuff and adapt offensive language when called for. In short, I paid attention to our community and what they were telling us by their letters, their attendance and their patronage. I kept the COMMUNITY first in Community Theater. That is the fundamental difference between my predecessor and myself. Now, and you may choose to believe this or not, we are out of debt and we have funds in the bank in excess of 6 figures. We are on the verge of expansion to a new performing arts building and our horizon is bright. Our community loves us and we are stronger than we have been in 34 seasons of community theater. A person may argue the relative merits of changing offensive language, whether it offends the playwright, or is illegal or not, or whatever. What is not arguable is that instead of being buried in debt and on the verge of total collapse, our CT now thrives.
	IP Logged

Pandora Walk-On Joined: 10/01/07 Online Status: Offline Posts: 3	Posted: 4/17/09 at 7:50pm
	Sorry, but I'm a high school theater director who has done lots of shows myself where I used language that I wouldn't use in real life, yet would not use those same words on the high school stage. I tell my kids that i am violating our contract by changing, but that part of understanding relationships and dealing with others is understanding appropriateness. Our high school presents shows that our community expects to be entertainment for the family, including the four-year-olds who are old enough to sit through the performance. We did Footloose without a four-letter word and the audience loved it, and my kids understood that we were changing words to avoid offending the community. We did Music Man and changed "by-God stubborn" to gosh-darn stubborn." Yep, they may be baking me files in jail, but I will continue to both change language and to explain to my kids why I do it.
	IP Logged

Topic: offensive language( Topic Closed)
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