Whether they’re starring onstage or maneuvering the spotlight, participating in theatre is one of the most effective ways to get students excited about the arts: it requires total commitment, leads them on an intensive journey of rehearsals and revisions, and its success hinges almost entirely on collaboration. With these skill sets and lessons, what’s not for teachers to love about theatre in school? Unfortunately for some, theatre also pushes boundaries. Even for kid-friendly scripts of more challenging works, many plays bring to light issues and concepts that some might consider too difficult for a young audience. Although addressing these topics stretches students’ imaginations and critical thinking skills, some administrators would rather stifle such instances altogether. That’s exactly what happened for two public school drama departments recently. For the theatre students at Trumbull High School in Trumbull, Conn., their school-friendly version of Rent was almost put on the chopping block. In November, 2013, principal Marc Guarino cancelled the production on the grounds that the play’s themes—which include HIV/AIDS, homosexuality, and drug use—were too risqué for a high school. After enormous local and national pushback, Guarino agreed to renege the cancellation, on the grounds that the production be accompanied by educational components. A few months later, a production of Thoroughly Modern Millie was canceled at the Dalton School, a private school in Manhattan, on the grounds that the show uses Asian stereotypes and a subplot about a Chinese white slavery ring. Responses from students as well as the show’s creators, however, resulted in a compromise: an amended version of the script, without any racial or human trafficking implications, would be produced instead. The romantic comedy is a popular choice for high school drama clubs, but lyricist and book writer Dick Scanlan cooperated with the rewrite: “I have given my blessing because, while I understand angry parents, for me heartbroken kids trump angry parents. The narrative basically remains the same…What is missing is a deliberate choice that Michael Mayer, Jeanine, and I made years ago to portray Asian stereotypes and then challenge them in order to bust them.” At the core of these two news stories is an enormous issue: how much power should school administrators have over students’ art, and by extension, how much selfexpression can students put forth in a school setting? Although modified versions of both plays managed to endure the controversy, the larger themes struggled to survive. While challenging, the issues they address have the potential to open up deep and crucial conversations among students. Larissa Mark, a senior from Trumbull High School, summed up her motivation to save Rent perfectly: "First, I was shocked at the idea that we would be banned from performing art. Then, as the meeting went on, and I saw kids in tears, and I saw kids who were open homosexuals come out and say, 'You're calling me a 'sensitive issue?' That's not right.' Seeing the tears in people's eyes, I knew I had to do something...Rent is an amazing show because of the messages it has. It's not about 'sensitive issues.' It's about love and acceptance. Even these issues that are deemed 'sensitive' — they're reality. It's what's happening in the world around us. Homosexuality is an accepted part of society now. We're not ignorant about drug use — we learn about it in school and health class — and it's around us in the
world…as well as disease. There [are] diseases out there, such as HIV and AIDS. We can't just ignore it."