Banning update, now with audio

I have written several times about the banning of Steve Martin's play, Picasso at the Lapin Agile by the La Grande school district. This play is being directed by my friend, Kevin Cahill, who teaches English and French at the high school there.

I'm writing to let you know that Kevin appeared today on a call-in show on Oregon Public Broadcasting, Think Out Loud (that link takes you to an mp3 of the show), to speak about the troubles. You should all go and listen.

Also appearing on the program were two people who opposed the production, Mrs Melissa Jackman, the woman who initially complained about the play and eventually got it banned from the high school; and a pastor from a local church.

I originally thought about expressing the following views in the comments section of Kevin's blog, but decided against it. I didn't want anyone to misconstrue that my opinions were the same as Kevin's. I believe that Kevin has made his own views well enough known.

The individuals who spoke against the play, especially Mrs Jackman, seem, to me, almost completely divorced from reality. She spoke several times about how the play's content--content which includes people talking about sex and pretending to drink alcohol--meant that her daughter could not participate in the production. She goes on to say that her daughter can't take part because she has higher standards. That's telling. Not "different standards", but higher. Because anyone with standards that differ from hers must, by definition, have lower standards.

Later in her taped interview, Mrs Jackman asks rhetorically if the best thing to have children do is to talk on stage about sex because, she says, there are already seventeen pregnant teens at the high school. By all means, Mrs Jackman, let's not have your students talk about sex. I mean, whatever you're doing now is apparently working like gang-busters.

And finally, I wonder if Mrs Jackman knows who Steve Martin is. When asked for her reaction to Mr Martin's offer to help fund the play, she seems at a loss. She implies that Mr Martin is doing this to gain publicity for his play. Because I'm sure that Mr Martin has been looking at the weekly receipts for his play (a play first staged in 1993 and not in production at any major American theaters as far as I can find on google.com) and thinking that one thing he really needs to boost ticket sales is for some backward-thinking school district to ban his play so he can swoop in and save the day. You know, for publicity. It's almost laughable. Almost.

Something I haven't written about here is that as a result of this controversy, the La Grande school district is going to evaluate and, more than likely, revise its guidelines for choosing the plays that are mounted at the high school. The subtext here is that they will regulate away the possibility that anything with any depth or complexity will ever be produced. I hope the kids interested in drama in La Grande will be happy with endless productions of Seussical the Musical and Little Women, because that's all they're going to get after this is all over.

Again, for a more eloquent review of this whole situation, I encourage you to visit Kevin's blog and read his excellent commentary.

Banning update (Steve Martin walks into a bar...)

I have written a few times about my friend, Kevin, and his problems staging a production of Steve Martin's Picasso at the Lapin Agile at the high school in La Grande, Oregon, where he teaches. For my previous posts, you can go here, and here. But really, what you should do is visit Kevin's blog where he writes about the troubles with eloquence and a level head.

I'm writing about the play again because there's been, to me anyway, a very interesting development. One way or another, Steve Martin has become aware of the banning and he's weighed in. Mr Martin wrote a letter of support that was published in the La Grande newspaper. In addition to this, Mr Martin has offered to finance the play's production in it's off-campus site. This is a an amazing act of generosity, in my opinion, and my esteem for Mr Martin, which was already considerable, has gone up even more.

Since the playwright has weighed in with his support, the story has blown up. It has been mentioned on Entertainment Weekly Online, and the BBC.

If this kerfuffle had to happen at all, this seems like the best possible resolution.

Banning update

Earlier in the week, I posted about some trouble my friend, Kevin, was having staging Steve Martin's Picasso at the Lapin Agile at the high school where he teaches. You can read that account by scrolling down, or by going here.

It was an eventful few days for Kevin and Co. They have a secured space, and an organization on campus, the Eastern Oregon University Democratic Party, will be funding the production. This is excellent news all around, and I want to congratulate Kevin. It's nice to see the good guys persevering.

Once again, I'd encourage you to go to Kevin's blog and check out his latest updates about the play.

Picasso and Einstein walk into a bar...

Last week, The Wife and I spent some time in her home town, La Grande, Oregon. It's a really beautiful place, one we've talked about moving to from time to time. In fact, it reminds me a lot of where I grew up, Meridian, Idaho. It's a farm community in a valley. It's somewhat isolated, and it's somewhat intolerant, unfortunately.

A friend of ours, Kevin Cahill has taught at La Grande High School for a number of years, and he also directs student productions there. This year he was attempting to stage Steve Martin's Picasso at the Lapin Agile. I say attempting because a few weeks into rehearsal, a parent got hold of a copy of the play, a play that had been approved by the school's principal, I hasten to add, and she found it objectionable. Long story short, she got a lot of her like-minded fellow citizens to sign a petition and presented it to the school superintendent, who then ordered the play shut down. Kevin appealed this decision to the La Grande school board but lost that appeal. He and the students have since been offered a space at the local university to perform the play (though the university president did at first bow to pressure from conservative community members), but the fact that they have to go off-campus at all is astounding.

I attended the school board meeting where the matter was discussed and I was, frankly, taken aback by some of the comments I heard. Many community members admitted to not having read the play, but they felt they knew enough about based on what they'd heard about it. Kevin's argument that the play had been staged by other high schools, including West Linn HS which is also in Oregon, and that the play had won some of those high school drama competitions, was met with disdain. "This may be an award-winning play in other communities," one speaker said, "but things are different here in La Grande." They certainly are.

The story is being picked up by sources outside of La Grande, something I'm sure the school board hoped would never happen. The AP has run a story about the banning (and they supply papers nation-wide with their coverage). Here's the AP story which ran in my local paper, The Statesman Journal. and The National Coalition Against Censorship has commented on it on their blog.

Kevin has done a wonderful job of documenting what the experience and I'd encourage you to go to his blog and read it. Parts one, two, three, and four.

I wish Kevin the best in this and I can't express how sorry I am that it's come up at all, but I'm confident that the play will go on. And when It does, I'll be there opening night.