Good grief now even Shakespeare is considered "inappropriate"

[TZ]

MESA, Ariz

It was supposed to be a two-hour Shakespearean comedy show attended by 700 sixth- through 12th-graders.

But it was not to be.

About 40 minutes into a touring company's performance of "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)," a Higley Unified School District official halted the show Monday at a performing arts center.

"We stopped the show because we feel that this was inappropriate," said Tara Kissane, the district's director of visual and performing arts. She declined to give specifics but said "there was inappropriate language and the content was very suggestive."

"I just thought it was over some of our kids' heads and it wasn't appropriate for our kids," Kissane said. She added she thought the show would be fine for college-age students
http://www.wtop.com/?nid=456&sid=1260008
Okay, I know that Shakespeares humor is a little bawdy (if not extremely suggestive) but compared to what is on TV today? Its nothing! And where I went to school Shakespeare was MANDDATORY reading. I think actually seeing it on stage makes kids more interested in learning about it. But god forbid any child hear the evil dirty words like "penis".Geez probably the younger ones wouldn't really understand half of the dialogue. I guess that no child left behind means no child learning anything naughty....
I really get tired of this bullshit censorship.
:banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

[NC_Nurse]

1. LOL!

Sex is bad, m'kay?

Idiots.

[renie408]

2. Shakespeare uses the word 'penis'? n/t

[TZ]

6. I think they modified the dialogue a little

But Shakespeare would have indeed used an Old English term that would be fairly obvious to the target audience (commoners) what it was....

[Mike03]

13. I'm a little rusty on my Shakespeare, but my

recollection is that he liked the term "pizzle". There are probably euphemisms. There is one play in which something is referred to as being like a "bull's pizzle," but I can't remember the play. Maybe one of the King Henrys. Falstaff is hilarious but he's rather profane at times.

When I was a senior in high school we read many of these plays and were even encouraged to go on field trips to watch the plays in performance, including some of the bawdier ones. It's very sad to me that now even Shakespeare is being censored.

I can't even imagine how they could tolerate something like Chaucer's Canterbury Tales--talk about sexual farce and innuendo!

[bullwinkle428]

14. Pizzle? Does this mean Snoop Dogg takes inspiration from Shakespeare?

[Mike03]

16. LOL, I don't know

Don't know Snoop Dogg's work, but you know what they say: Everything old is new again. Maybe he's a revisionist who has taken an Elizabethan term and resurrected it.

[yellerpup]

3. I'm speechless with outrage.

K&R. Censoring Shakespeare is inappropriate for our kids. In the words of Dan Ackroyd: "You ignorant slut!"

[spanone]

4. enter the thought police

[pnwmom]

5. How ridiculous. They should be THRILLED if any of their students

were quick enough to catch the humor. It's not easy to follow Shakespearean English, even for an adult.

[ManiacJoe]

7. In theory is possible that it was inappropriate

for the 6th graders while being fine for the 12th graders. While there is not much data to go on, this does look pretty bad on the school officials....

[renie408]

11. There is nothing in Shakespeare that would be inappropriate for a 6th grader

Incomprehensible, maybe. But inappropriate...no. As far as I can remember, the sexual innuendo in Shakespeare is pretty broad and there aren't any nekkid people or anything. Maybe it was the way this was 'abridged'. If they abridged it enough to get the word 'penis' in there, it may have come across as too vulgar. But I have a hard time imagining it was too much for a twelve year old kid.

[Faygo Kid]

8. This was the unkindest cut of all. . .

If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well it were done quickly

(making a hash of "Julius Caesar and Macbeth, but they mix well, 'tis true)

[proud patriot]

9. It was in High School where I learned to love Shakespear

This looks like an over reaction to me

[Warpy]

10. Oh, for crying out loud! Mrs. Grundy needs to find another job,

preferably one where art never troubles her beautiful mind.

Anyone who thinks sixth graders are that innocent hasn't listened to any of them lately. Hell, most weren't that innocent when I was in that grade decades ago! However, for the few that are, the beauty of that sort of innocence is that it doesn't get the joke, anyway.

The only way to make Shakespeare come alive for kids is to do the plays. The best way to hook kids into this stuff is hook them young.

This humorless Philistine needs to go.

[kimmylavin]

12. To be fair...

That play wasn't exactly Shakespeare.
It was written by a comedy troupe called the Reduced Shakespeare Company, and it tells all the STORIES, but with mostly modern-day language. There is some bawdiness, but honestly, nothing terrible. And I saw it in London, when I was about 20.

They've also done the complete Bible, and their stuff is pretty damn funny. :)

[Poiuyt]

15. When he himself might his quietus make, With a bare bodkin?

Tee hee!

[MuseRider]

17. Wouldn't you think

that the districts director of visual and performing arts would have looked into this well ahead of time and ask questions?

I think the whole thing is silly. Penis, oh my heavens we musn't let the little one's know that their little "winky" has a real name. Still, I can't imagine 6th graders would really understand Shakespeare well enough to understand comedy based on Shakespeare. Really, what were they thinking?

I say this thinking that it is doubtful that Shakespeare is taught to youngsters in grade school and if it is it should not be in parody form first. But that is just me.

[nemo137]

18. If this is the show I'm thinking of,

It's not actual Shakespeare, it's fractured-fairy tale Shakespeare, with a bit that includes a cooking show based on Titus Andronicus. I'd be a bit leery of showing it to 6th graders, perhaps, but they also should have figured out what they were taking the kids to before sending out permission slips, rather than stopping the show in the middle.