The Aragon Drama Department’s recent performance of Chicago has raised questions about what is appropriate content for high school productions.
Multiple performances in local high schools have content that some people would deem inappropriate, including Aragon’s performance of Chicago, Cabaret, The Grapes of Wrath and The Laramie Project, San Mateo’s performance of Avenue Q, and Menlo School’s Spring Awakening.
Chicago centers on the life of murderess and burlesque dancer Roxie Hart and includes lingerie, guns, a noose, and some expletives.
Students in Chicago generally did not express concerns about the content. “Whatever is written in the [musical] is there, and you just act,” says freshman Brandon Leong.
Leong explains that the play is art, and it should not be thought of as supporting inappropriate behavior.
He says, “Lots of [actors] experienced awkwardness and they did not like it, but we just sucked it up and said that we were just actors playing the parts of other people.”
According to Leong, however, a line does need to be drawn. He says, “Nudity and swearing … like a lot of swearing—it’s just too much.”
Although Leong admits that Chicago has swearing, he does not believe it is excessive.
Due to the sexual nature of the play, actors—or their parents—might have reasons for concern, but junior Kelsey O’Donnell says, “I was never worried about it … My costume is very, very short, very revealing, as is everybody else’s. But it’s just the show, it’s the time period, and that’s what I signed up for, so myself and my parents, we were never really worried about it.”
Additionally, drama teacher Shane Smuin took steps to make sure the students were comfortable with what they were wearing and doing. Smuin says, “This started a lot in costuming. ‘Are you comfortable with this?’ … So, we gave the kids a lot of, ‘Give us feedback on your costuming.’ … And that was sort of the engine for the show, and, for the most part, the kids in the show, I didn’t even have to address that. They were like, ‘Let’s go!’”
As to whether people should be warned about the nature of the play, Leong says, “Chicago is very well known. Parents can choose whether or not they bring their kids to the performance.”
Some schools, like Gunn High School, warn parents about the content of their productions by rating them. On Gunn’s theatre website, there is a statement regarding their fall play, The Rimers of Eldritch, that reads, “This play addresses some difficult issues which might not be suitable for young children. Parental notice: We are rating this play PG-13.”
Beth Orr, the former drama director at Menlo School, says, “We did say on the posters and on advertising that adults need to use discretion in bringing children under 12 to performances, as difficult themes (suicide, abortion) were tackled [in Spring Awakening].”
Statements like these warn parents of the nature of the performance in advance, so if they have any qualms with their children attending, they can choose not to take them.
O’Donnell speaks to the age recommendation for Chicago, saying, “If you are younger than 13, I don’t think that you should see [Chicago]. 13 is even a little bit young. I mean, it is up to the parent of course, but it is a risqué show,” O’Donnell says.
Additionally, many point out that teens today have been exposed to so much sex and violence in TV, movies, and video games, that the content shown in plays can be more adult.
Arlene Igtanloc, a parent with a student in Chicago, allowed her eight-year-old son to see it. She says, “It’s not like he hasn’t heard those [swear words] before on TV or at school … Personally, I think it differs from kid to kid. I would be comfortable taking my children to the play, but some other parents might not be.”
Additionally, many in the drama community believe that some of these more mature themes can prove beneficial to the student audience. “Pressure to do well in school, bullying, domestic abuse, suicide, falling in love and sexual awakening, and unwanted pregnancy are all themes in the play that are relevant to today’s teens. I wanted to do relevant, challenging, current theatre,” Orr says, referring her choice of Spring Awakening, a production that follows a group of high school age students through their sexual awakening. It includes rape, suicide, and a death caused by an inept abortion.
“I believe that theatre has real power to move people, to make them think, perhaps to make them act. The demands of the play spurred the growth of all cast members and the audience,” Orr says.
O’Donnell argues that students are already exposed to much of the potentially risqué elements of productions, saying, “Being realistic, eighth graders know what sex is, they know what prostitutes are, they know what it means. They won’t get all the sexual innuendos … so they might just miss some of the stuff. But I think that they can see it.”
On the other hand, some argue that high schools have a responsibility to maintain a more modest atmosphere.
While Smuin says that directors have an artistic and aesthetic responsibility to the community, Brad Friedman, San Mateo High School’s drama teacher, says, “I think that a play that needs to be highly sexual to make strong point is probably not appropriate for high school. There are plenty of show that do contain controversy which I love and would never produce in school.”
O’Donnell argues that Chicago and Avenue Q serve this purpose, saying, “Both Chicago and Avenue Q are such satire on things [sex and racism] like that, I think that it’s good for people to see them.”
Other shows, like Spring Awakening and The Laramie Project, are controversial because they contain adult themes and are not satirical.
A grandparent in the Chicago audience, Francis Privitera, referring to Spring Awakening, says, “I think that would be a little bit much for high school.”
Many directors change plays to make them more appropriate for a high school audience. Friedman says, “You might lose something in the translation by trying to soften Spring Awakening’s message in your staging, but you could still present a show that gets across the message of the importance of sex education. A strong director can think of alternative ways of staging that are still effective.”
Controversy over changing a play often depends on where those changes originate. “As far as I’m concerned, there is a difference between making a director’s choice and censorship,” says Smuin. “Censorship is from an outside source that says ‘No, you can’t do that,’ and being an artist, I am totally opposed to that.”
