Chris Jones at the Chicago Tribune
reports that the Chicago production of "Jersey
Boys" (an outstanding show, by the way--and that's me talking, not Jones) has gone smoke free.
He's not talking about the theater. He's talking about the show itself. Apparently the laws in Chicago don't allow for artistic use of cigs. And when someone in the audience complained, well, the law is the law.
Does this sound as out of hand to you as it does to me?
Discuss.
He's not talking about the theater. He's talking about the show itself. Apparently the laws in Chicago don't allow for artistic use of cigs. And when someone in the audience complained, well, the law is the law.
Does this sound as out of hand to you as it does to me?
Discuss.
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Horrible law, but I'm betting it's one of those that largely goes unenforced until some nimrod with nothing better to do than worry about self-righteously protecting other people's children complains.
loophole
Perhaps that's what Chicago fears?
Anyway, given Chicago's reputation as a home for gritty, experimental, and otherwise unusual theatre (I just can't bring myself to say edgy), I wonder how often this rule is breached in much smaller performance spaces (and with no one the wiser)?
Oh, well, if you're in Chicago and put off by this, you could always check out a horse - er, something, anyway - of a different color, in the form of a play called The Mysterious Elephant and the Terrible Tragedy of the Unlikely Addington Twins* (*Who Kill Him), which is playing right now at the Chopin theatre.
No, I'm not a member of the Strange Tree Group, who's mounting this new and certifiably unorthodox production. Just a fan.
Anyway, back to the subject at hand. Smoke 'em if you've got 'em. Just not inside the theatre.
There is a reason why they call it acting. If the cast isn't good enough to fake smoking then I'm not sure why anyone would pay to see them in the first place.
In Colorado, the ban includes both tobacco and herbal substitutes. So the Curious Theatre in Denver (a member of the National New Play Network, along with with Indianapolis' own Phoenix Theatre) has challenged the legislation in court. Basically, they are claiming artistic freedom - that because of the ban, they would be unable to perform certain worrks where on-stage smoking is integral to the plot. So far the state court and appeals court have ruled against the theatre - they did not consider smoking to be expressive conduct. But they have filed an appeal with the Colorado supreme court and if that fails, there is always the U.S Supreme Court. So stay tuned.
http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/the_theater_loop/
Let's be grown-ups here. Human beings do smoke, human beings do drink alcohol, human beings do curse and punch and maim and kill other human beings, and they do all of these distasteful things....are you sitting down....sometimes TO EXCESS. All of these, oh let's be kind and say, foibles, add layers to ourselves. The playwright uses these layers to create characters to tell his story. We, as artists, try and reflect the human condition, and we must be able to have, foibles, in order to make our characters layered and rounded and not one dimensional. We should be able to look at life in all of its splendor, and all of it's unsavory sides as well.
If a character smokes, and that smoking is relevant to the plot and story, how can you present the character if you can't allow him to smoke onstage. If a character has an acerbic tongue, and curses, and that cursing is pivotal, how can you do the play justice if you cut out all of the curse words.
I would wager that this all came about in Chicago (or really pick anywhere, because it is happening elsewhere) because a few anti-smoking zealots sat in the first few rows of a play where the characters smoked. They then complained to their Alderman, who brought up a resolution at the City-Council, and before you knew it...smoking was banned. I just don't think there was a revolt because of all of the smoking on stage. It was just a few complainers that brought this about. So, a very, very, very small percentage of the total audince in the city of Chicago brought this about.
I directed a children's show once that was about pirates. We had a very few instances in the show where prop knives were brandished, one instance of a fight, and some token ale drinking. Very Tame. The producers of the show wanted me to tone down the violence because 4 patrons had complained that it was too violent for their children.
The theater had 300 seats. We did a total of about 66 shows. So, out of a possible 19,800 audience members, four...FOUR, thought the show was too violent. I was asked to change the blocking and the show for FOUR people. My response was...THEY WERE PIRATES...not exactly the most savory characters on the high seas....how did you expect them to act ? Besides, these kids weren't learning about violence for the first time by seeing this show, their video games and the TV they watch at home had far more violence than they were seeing onstage.
I really think that it's incredibly...well I cant think of a better word...STUPID, to ban these kinds of things. It waters down what we do as artists. How can we accurately reflect the human condition, if we can't ACCURATELY reflect the human condition.
To quote a good friend...that's my 2 cents, your mileage may vary.
foible but we certainly do not like it and they don't even threaten public health! Finally, the bleating and braying of a few actually turns out to be millions of Americans who support bans on smoking in public places.