Fear No Art: A Tale of Two Universities
How to Do Something Right
Let me beam with pride at being a citizen of the fine city of Madison.
Last night there was a disturbance – worried neighbors called the police to say that they could see people with guns silhouetted through a window. The police responded as they would to any hostage situation, with multiple officers and ready to take action – until they learned that it was actually a local theatre group rehearsing a play about Irish terrorism called the “Lieutenant of Inishmore.”
The police issued no tickets, no warnings, not even a “hey, maybe you should use more fake guns.” They simply said “Oh, it’s a rehearsal.” and went on their way.
How to Look Like You’re Doing Something
Contrast this attitude with the policy of Arkansas Tech, which chose to ban a production of Sondheim’s “Assassins”, a play about the various men in history who have tried (or succeeded) in assassinating presidents. The Administration – no one actually took responsibility, and indeed, the faculty seems downright scared of commenting on the ban – decided that they would let the actors and crew do a dress reheasal, but only if the fake wooden guns were sawed in half and no actual sound effects of gunshots were done.
Read the whole article to learn about the extent of the decision, the reactions, and the potential ramifications. The fact that football parties, where real gunshots are apparently going off, are fine but that musical theatre is perceived as a danger just…boggles the mind. Makes me want to buy the soundtrack of Assassins just to see if it is more violent than, say, the History Channel.
But the bard said it best:
“Write me a prologue, and let the prologue seem to say, we will do no harm with our swords, and that Pyramus is not killed indeed; and for the more better assurance, tell them that I, Pyramus, am not Pyramus but Bottom the weaver. That will put them out of fear.”
—A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 3.1
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