They Did What Now?!?!

When I decided to pursue Theatre Arts as a major, I was both excited and nervous at the same time. The excitement was obviously stemming from my impending urge to be in the spotlight; the nervousness came after I discovered that Theatre is the most controversial and unpredictable profession out there right now. I figured this out while I was still in high school, and went into college with an open-mind and open-heart. I told myself that if I really wanted to do this, I would have to be tolerate to things that I was not used to being tolerate to before; i.e homosexuality, pre-marital sex, cursing, and the like. Of course, this didn't mean that I had participate in these activities; just that I had to be accepting and nonjudgmental, just like any other young adult maturing in this day and age. Although I had prepared myself, I still was not "college-level" prepared; I was Southern small town prepared. There are absolutely no restrictions put on Theatre students. What I mean by that is that we are encouraged to let go of the preconceived notions placed on certain things and portray it in a way that does it justice. Truthfully, I was quite intimidated at first. Having to let go of prejudices are hard to do when they have been drilled in your had for so long. But, after some time, and being engrossed in works such as RENT and Spring Awakening, whose topics took a running start and leaped over the "social appropriate" line, I have been able to adapt myself to the "anything goes" philosophy. Unfortunately, a lot of the social community do not see things through the same gray-lensed glasses that Thespians do. To most, everything is still black and white; even thought there is evident change around us.

This past week, a letter was written to the Editor to the East Carolinian and was published in the March 17, 2011 edition. In the article, it "reviewed" (Notice the quotation marks, seeing that the review was only a paragraph long) the ECU/Loessin Playhouse's latest production, The 25th Annual Putnum County Spelling Bee. It discussed how the play was offensive because it portrayed a wrong message to young people by having 6th graders curse. The writer of this article was particularly offended by the play's use of the expletive "G.D", which was used frequently throughout one of the songs. He continues to bash ECU's theatre department by saying that it "reveals the dulled spirit" and the "insensitivity to the prevailing religious and spiritual values". Of course, this offended me immensely, being apart of this dull, insensitive spirit, and all. But, even if i wasn't in Theatre Department, I would find that this view is identical to the view of the rest of the community. Especially seeing as Greenville is located in the center of "The Bible Belt", whose views sway to the right side of the political scale.http://www.theeastcarolinian.com/opinion/letter-to-the-editor-concern-about-play-1.2110269

I am a Christian and I believe that the Bible tells us to live and act a certain way. With all of the exposure that I have from being a Theatre major, I feel that my views have been change; making me (once again, I say this because I feel that this is an important point) tolerate to certain things. Don't get me wrong, I still believe in all of the principles that the Bile teaches us, but I have been enlighten. I've learned that it also teaches us to not be judgmental and to accept others for who they are. The radical choices made by the Theatre are used to make a statement about life; to express the times and to educate the masses on what it entails. Yes, it might be difficult to understand or, for some people, to even watch. But, as you can look and observe around you, life can be difficult to understand and hard to watch sometimes. The world is full of offense. It's the Theatre's job to show you that offense in it's rawest form; making it scary and entertainment at the same time.

I find it completely and utterly fascinating. But, of course I do. I am, after all, a Thespian! :)

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