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Thursday, October 13, 2022
Disappointment, frustration surrounds abrupt cancellation of Fourth Wall’s ‘Perfect Arrangement’
The Quinnipiac Chronicle: Fourth Wall Theater, Quinnipiac University’s student-run theater organization, unexpectedly canceled its original fall 2022 production late last month, in light of what some cast members described as discomfort with the language used in the script.
It’s interesting to me to see how a university’s student theatre was able to turn around and change their show on such a short notice. Knowing how much work goes into every production on all elements, it was surprising to see that they were able to change it around so fast. I am curious to read this play now and to see what language is used in this play. While I understand that everyone should be comfortable, especially with everything on and off stage, I find it peculiar that there was not more of a push back from the community. As someone who supports the LGBTQ+ community I find it odd that there was not more support to continue the show and push back from the cancellation of the show. I know it would have sparked the good conversations our society needs right now about inclusion, equity and personal experiences that shape our reactions, words and experiences in everyday life.
This is always a dicey subject in theater. I feel that more often than not, artists are trying to justify something that someone said many years ago and put it on stage now in 2022. However, I don’t think that this was the case in this situation. The reason that I don’t think it was the case being that this playwright is queer and wrote the show recently to make commentary on what happened in our country’s history. I believe that it’s incredibly important to talk about the history that we came from in this world so that history doesn’t repeat itself. While I understand that it’s important that the cast be comfortable, I’m surprised they didn’t reach out to the playwright to ask him why he used this language and maybe just have a discussion about it. I would also be interested in reading this show and knowing what the production history is.
Maybe it’s just how naive and foolish I am as a person, but I always believe in giving people the benefit of the doubt. So if a show, like Perfect Arrangement, had a couple of choice words that I didn’t think were appropriate for me to say, I might look at the script, the playwright, the context of it all and try to parse out whether or not damage is being done to anyone. People have reclaimed a lot of derogatory terms in LGBTQ history, and granted some people are still not okay with others using that kind of language. But for anyone who did their research and made their own opinion, they’d find so much pride in the terms we used to identify, like dyke or butch or what may have you. Then it also kind of sounds like people are trying to cover their ass in case someone comes out and says, I told you we could do this show! And not be responsible for cancelling a show at their school.
3 comments:
It’s interesting to me to see how a university’s student theatre was able to turn around and change their show on such a short notice. Knowing how much work goes into every production on all elements, it was surprising to see that they were able to change it around so fast. I am curious to read this play now and to see what language is used in this play. While I understand that everyone should be comfortable, especially with everything on and off stage, I find it peculiar that there was not more of a push back from the community. As someone who supports the LGBTQ+ community I find it odd that there was not more support to continue the show and push back from the cancellation of the show. I know it would have sparked the good conversations our society needs right now about inclusion, equity and personal experiences that shape our reactions, words and experiences in everyday life.
This is always a dicey subject in theater. I feel that more often than not, artists are trying to justify something that someone said many years ago and put it on stage now in 2022. However, I don’t think that this was the case in this situation. The reason that I don’t think it was the case being that this playwright is queer and wrote the show recently to make commentary on what happened in our country’s history. I believe that it’s incredibly important to talk about the history that we came from in this world so that history doesn’t repeat itself. While I understand that it’s important that the cast be comfortable, I’m surprised they didn’t reach out to the playwright to ask him why he used this language and maybe just have a discussion about it. I would also be interested in reading this show and knowing what the production history is.
Maybe it’s just how naive and foolish I am as a person, but I always believe in giving people the benefit of the doubt. So if a show, like Perfect Arrangement, had a couple of choice words that I didn’t think were appropriate for me to say, I might look at the script, the playwright, the context of it all and try to parse out whether or not damage is being done to anyone. People have reclaimed a lot of derogatory terms in LGBTQ history, and granted some people are still not okay with others using that kind of language. But for anyone who did their research and made their own opinion, they’d find so much pride in the terms we used to identify, like dyke or butch or what may have you. Then it also kind of sounds like people are trying to cover their ass in case someone comes out and says, I told you we could do this show! And not be responsible for cancelling a show at their school.
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