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One Flew over the Hornet's Nest
By adamg on Sun, 05/07/2017 - 10:18am
Ed Siegel reviews the contretemps over a nude scene in a Boston Children's Theatre production.
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Comments
Well...
I can see where some people would have a problem with the words "nude scene" and "Boston Children's Theatre" in the same sentence.
I will assume there were no nude scenes in his version of “The Diary of Anne Frank”.
EDIT: Yes, I understand “Cuckoo’s Nest” had a nude scene...in a book. The movie? Don't remember, but it was an adult movie.
I can understand a pushback on this.
"Children"
The production of Cuckoo's Nest is intended for ages 14 and above (roughly my age when I saw the movie, and the age at which many read the book). Given the subject matter of Cuckoo' s Nest and Diary of Anne Frank, nudity is hardly the most disturbing aspect of any production.
From the article...
FTA: "He added, “When you’re Boston Children’s Theatre, nudity is a big leap. The last show they did was 'Velveteen Rabbit.' For families with children, they make an alliance with the institution. The institutional brand is what they’re showing up for … I would not want to appear nude in front of children. Doing it for adults is a very different thing ..."
So, " Given the subject matter of Cuckoo' s Nest and Diary of Anne Frank, nudity is hardly the most disturbing aspect of any production."
I fully agree. But, the nude scene, if left out, would not have caused any controversy. He put it in to draw attention to it, possibly. OK. Controversy sells.
The Velveteen Rabbit deals with death in a way that kids can relate. I would think that's not easy to do.
It doesn't matter if their
It doesn't matter if their previous production was intended for kids. This production didn't allow children to attend.
OMG THE CHILDREN!
FTFY
Keep it up - those pearls might turn to diamonds if you clutch them hard enough.
Finally
It's been a while since there's been a good theater controversy in Boston.
The children's theater is causing more controversy than any of the fringe theaters in town...some companies could use this as a wake-up call.
Controversy
Because controversy for controversy's sake is what is important?
Not for Controversy's sake
Theater is meant to provoke. It's meant to hold a mirror to society.
So the Boston Children's
So the Boston Children's Theater production of the Slutcracker is cancelled for December??
This is Boston.
It's not Scandinavia, Dorothy.
BCT staged Stephen Sondheim's "Assassins" two years ago
so they have a history of being unafraid of edgy content.