College Censorship of Plays (Specifically, DOG SEES GOD) -- advice wanted
College Censorship of Plays (Specifically, DOG SEES GOD) -- advice wanted
#1College Censorship of Plays (Specifically, DOG SEES GOD) -- advice wanted
Posted: 4/21/08 at 7:10pm
I've read all of the articles when they were printed about how colleges and public schools would censor or shut down theatre productions due to subject matter, language, mature situations, nudity, etc. I now find myself on the verge of the same issue.
I have submitted to direct Bert V. Royal's DOG SEES GOD which our Theatre Department Chair has read and thoroughly fell in love with it. We had a meeting today to discuss the possibility of doing the production next season as my senior thesis.
Essentially, he is very cautious about doing the production. We are very strict about following copyright laws, so he said that we need to do two things: 1) Altar the script very specifically about what needs to change in order to make it producable, and then get approval of those changes from Dramatists Play Service, inc. who licenses the show; or 2) Continue to pursue doing the show unchanged or not do the show at all.
I have looked at what we would change to make it 'PG-13' and not 'R.' I would cut the part of the line that says "cum on your tits" and again where it's mentioned just a few lines later. I would also have to replace the word "p^ssy" with a less vulgar word. There are dozens of F-bombs and other curse words which would NOT be changed. Words like "cocksucker" or other sexual words would be altared or deleted.
Basically, our Chair says that he has no problem with the curse words or the homosexual themes, just the sentences and words that are sexual.
Our Chair is worried about the reactions of parents and college administration/staff and offending them as such.
I would greatly appreciate advice from those on this board.
1) How should I go about negiotiating with our Theatre Chair in doing the play unchanged?
2) Would it be harmful to altar the play in those 2-3 instances? (I already have my opinion but I want to know what you think.) Would Dramatists/the playwright give permission for such changes?
Thanks you so much!
"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle
Updated On: 4/21/08 at 07:10 PM
--Aristotle
Fosse76
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/21/05
#2re: College Censorship of Plays (Specifically, DOG SEES GOD) -- advice wanted
Posted: 4/21/08 at 7:17pmMy opinion is if you want to do the play, then you need to do it as is. If the playwright wanted you to do a PG-13 version, then he would have written it that way originally.
#2re: College Censorship of Plays (Specifically, DOG SEES GOD) -- advice wanted
Posted: 4/21/08 at 7:21pm
Censoring plays in college? Wow. I've not known any college to do that.
But be that as it may, apparently yours is. So I agree with Fossee76. If you can't do it in its entirety, then find another play.
....but the world goes 'round
#3re: College Censorship of Plays (Specifically, DOG SEES GOD) -- advice want
Posted: 4/21/08 at 7:25pm
Our company have just produced this show in the UK and had a sell out run with it and i would advise you not to even think about altering it.The play is great and the audiences response was fantastic but if we had of changed anything (Language etc) it would have impacted the show in a massive way.
The whole point of Dog Sees God is about Teenagers and teenage behavior and how cruel they can be, toning it down would affect the piece in a huge way
We were lucky enough to be in contact with Bert (hes such a sweetie) and he sent us the revised script (so funny and a bit naughtier)
Dont change th script, that would be my advice
If you want a play which wont offend or raise eye brows then you are best of picking something else Xxx
Namo i love u but we get it already....you don't like Madonna
#4re: College Censorship of Plays (Specifically, DOG SEES GOD) -- advice want
Posted: 4/21/08 at 7:31pmI agree with everyone else. If you can't do the play as written, pick another play. Otherwise, it's not honoring the playwright's intentions. I don't see why the language/themes would be such a big deal for a college production, though.
"One no longer loves one's insight enough once one communicates it."
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
#5re: College Censorship of Plays (Specifically, DOG SEES GOD) -- advice want
Posted: 4/21/08 at 7:34pmI also agree that you should preform the play as written, but if your Chair is worried about offending people maybe you could note what is in the play when you advertise it.
#6re: College Censorship of Plays (Specifically, DOG SEES GOD) -- advice want
Posted: 4/21/08 at 7:53pm
My college just did Dog Sees God, complete text, nothing changed. It was amazing. There were alot of warnings on posters, in advertisements, in the programs and before the show about the content.
I hope you are able to do the show, without having to change too much.
Fear no more the heat o' the sun,
Nor the furious winter's rages;
Thou thy worldly task hast done,
Home art gone and ta'en thy wages:
Golden lads and girls all must,
As chimney-sweepers, come to dust.
~Cymbeline
#7re: College Censorship of Plays (Specifically, DOG SEES GOD) -- advice want
Posted: 4/21/08 at 8:26pmGlad you saw this SADM2!
A young actress with Noel coward after a dreadful opening night performance said to him 'Well, i knew my lines backwards this morning!''
Noels fast reply was ''Yes dear, and thats exactly how you said them tonight'!'
#8re: College Censorship of Plays (Specifically, DOG SEES GOD) -- advice want
Posted: 4/21/08 at 8:32pm
I completely agree with doing a play as is and not altering it. However, if I were to do an altered DOG SEES GOD, it would only be those 2-3 specific instances. Of course it diminishes the integrity by making just ONE change, but are these 2-3 changes so severe that it is better not to do the play? I don't think the answer is so easy as to just dismiss the idea of doing this play. Or perhaps it is and I am just blinded by my passion to do this show. Thoughts?
ETA - is the script that is available for purchase via DPS the revised script? Do they license the original or the revised script? Thanks!
"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle
Updated On: 4/21/08 at 08:32 PM
--Aristotle
#9re: College Censorship of Plays (Specifically, DOG SEES GOD) -- advice want
Posted: 4/21/08 at 8:53pm
The revised script is something Bert sent to us, the one thats licensed through Dramatists is not the one we did.
As someone who has just directed and Produced this i would strongly recommend against changing anything to tone it down, with other plays i may have a different opinion but with this one it needs to stay intact X
Namo i love u but we get it already....you don't like Madonna
erinrebecca
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/29/04
#10re: College Censorship of Plays (Specifically, DOG SEES GOD) -- advice want
Posted: 4/21/08 at 11:41pmWow, I have to agree that I've never heard of a college censoring a play. What school is it?
#11re: College Censorship of Plays (Specifically, DOG SEES GOD) -- advice want
Posted: 4/21/08 at 11:49pmA college censoring a play? That sounds crazy to me. I mean its an all adult cast. We did absolutely no censoring when I was in college. I would say that if you can not do the play as written I would not do it at all, thats just me though.
"I'd rater be nine peoples favorite thing, than a hundred peoples ninth favorite thing"
#12re: College Censorship of Plays (Specifically, DOG SEES GOD) -- advice want
Posted: 4/21/08 at 11:58pmBert actually posts on here, I'm sure he'd be quite displeased about that kind of censorship given that it is absurd. I can't believe a college would ask you to make those kind of alterations. Is it a religiour-afiliated school? That's the only case I'd think they have any room to censor you. Pick another play, or do it as written with/without their consent, those words are there for a reason.
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
walkedthroughmany
Leading Actor Joined: 3/25/07
#13re: College Censorship of Plays (Specifically, DOG SEES GOD) -- advice want
Posted: 4/22/08 at 12:58am
I agree that you shouldn't change the play.
I think the real issue is fighting the college on censorship policy. Why are they against these 2-3 sexual words? Will these 2-3 words really diminish the college's reputation or harm any students/parents? I think that if these students and parents are able to stomach sitting through the play and its themes, then they can take these 2-3 words in context.
Radioactiveduck
Broadway Star Joined: 7/18/05
#14re: College Censorship of Plays (Specifically, DOG SEES GOD) -- advice want
Posted: 4/22/08 at 2:12am
Honestly, I don't see the crime in changing the script for a few specific lines.
My views about profanity and such are thus...
If you can convince me that rough and/or foul language is somehow dramatically necessary, then go right on ahead. However, the trend in theatre recently has been to add as many vulgar words as possible to make shows "edgy" and "provocative" without actually making them any better. When there are "dozens of F-bombs", as you say, the word doesn't carry any intensity because it isn't held back as it would be normal society.
Do I make sense?
#15re: College Censorship of Plays (Specifically, DOG SEES GOD) -- advice want
Posted: 4/22/08 at 3:07amYes and no, Radioactiveduck. I know that I go places where the F-bomb is NOT held back and is a consistant part of regular conversation. The fact is that these words are a part of many Western sub-cultures, and the use of them is as varied and different as any word. I think you can tell when an author is just trying to be cool. I don't think that the frequency that the word is used with means it's no longer an effective word. Maybe the usage is different in that sub-culture, or in this particular play. F*ck does not always have to be an f-bomb.
PLEASE! Do not post anything negative or dramatic! DidYouReallyHearMe has LOST the ability to ignore such posts and he will comment! Please, help him.
With Clay Aiken in Spamalot, all of Broadway is singing a collective "There! Right! There!" -Me-
"Not Barker, Todd is the only person I've ever known who could imitate Katherine Hepburn...in print." -nmartin-
With Clay Aiken in Spamalot, all of Broadway is singing a collective "There! Right! There!" -Me-
"Not Barker, Todd is the only person I've ever known who could imitate Katherine Hepburn...in print." -nmartin-
#16re: College Censorship of Plays (Specifically, DOG SEES GOD) -- advice want
Posted: 4/22/08 at 4:27am:P Updated On: 4/22/08 at 04:27 AM
#17re: College Censorship of Plays (Specifically, DOG SEES GOD) -- advice want
Posted: 4/22/08 at 6:57am
The thing with changing some of the swear words etc with this show does affect the story and the point (in my opinion)
The language is supposed to me you feel uncomfortable as it does when you hear it in the school or on the street.Its supposed to be offensive (especially in Tricia and Marcy's case, that is how they express themselves and hide their real identities and problems)
Namo i love u but we get it already....you don't like Madonna
Roscoe
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#18re: College Censorship of Plays (Specifically, DOG SEES GOD) -- advice want
Posted: 4/22/08 at 8:53am
I'd suggest that you find another play. Try finding a GOOD play, instead of that bloated SNL skit DOG SEES GOD.
"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers." Thomas Pynchon, GRAVITY'S RAINBOW
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Philip K. Dick
My blog: http://www.roscoewrites.blogspot.com/
#19re: College Censorship of Plays (Specifically, DOG SEES GOD) -- advice want
Posted: 4/22/08 at 8:54am
Blinded by my passion to do the play - yup. Woke up this morning and I knew in my heart that if there is just one change, I can't do the play. It just really sucks because if we did those 3 changes, the play would be produced.
Looks like I will need to put up a stronger fight (and continue to read other plays 
).
"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle
--Aristotle
#20re: College Censorship of Plays (Specifically, DOG SEES GOD) -- advice want
Posted: 4/22/08 at 9:17amI've never known of a university to censor any theatre performances, regardless of language or content. They just put a warning on all advertizements and such. I would say pose that suggestion, that way those who would be offended would know not to attend, and you'd still be able to perform the play in its entirety.
Borstalboy
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/9/04
#21re: College Censorship of Plays (Specifically, DOG SEES GOD) -- advice want
Posted: 4/22/08 at 11:01amI think you need to study art at another college. This is ridiculous.
"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”
~ Muhammad Ali
#22re: College Censorship of Plays (Specifically, DOG SEES GOD) -- advice want
Posted: 4/22/08 at 11:08amI'm going to have to agree with Borstal.
"One no longer loves one's insight enough once one communicates it."
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
BVR24
Swing Joined: 2/24/06
#23re: College Censorship of Plays (Specifically, DOG SEES GOD) -- advice want
Posted: 4/22/08 at 11:10pm
I can't speak for every playwright, but I can speak for the one in question:
Personally, I can understand an educational facility being a little worried about the content of certain pieces. 'Dog Sees God' has some offensive stuff in it and it's not right for all environments.
I think the real ABOMINATION, however is to change the words of a play... Without the consent of the playwright. But I'm certainly willing to discuss what can be done, Cap'n Hook. (I sent you a PM.) And kudos to your faculty advisor who instructed you to seek permission.
Plus, how fun would it be for us to haggle over profanity?!?!
Me: Okay, I'll trade you a *&@# for a $%^#*.
You: Well, can we change @#$% to &*@#?
That is MY idea of fun. (Did you guys see the SNL sketch with Christopher Walken a few weeks ago changing the lyrics to 'Grease Light'ning'? HA!)
Very best,
Bert V. (the playwright)
PS - Roscoe, are you a jilted ex-lover of mine or is "Dog Sees God is an overly long SNL sketch" your catchphrase? I swear I think you posted it (maybe unknowingly) on a board about 'Miss Saigon Understudies.' (???)
Phyllis Rogers Stone
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/16/07
#24re: College Censorship of Plays (Specifically, DOG SEES GOD) -- advice want
Posted: 4/22/08 at 11:16pmDoes your school normally censor plays? Unless you go to an Jesus college I don't understand how this could be the first time this was an issue.
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