Mountian Jews
Poster for Mountian Jews
put on by The Jewish Theater of New York
at the Triad Theater
http://www.nypost.com/seven/10142008/gossip/pagesix/a_mountain_of_trouble_133494.htm
This play was controversial because it was about a Jewish man and woman who are in Israel and who want to get married. Suddendly a prophet comes to the man and says he must have the woman, and if he doesn't, he will have his followers blow up several cities around the world. This is very much a heavy subject; talking about terrorism and making it into a comedy.
2) Naked Broadway
Oh! Calcutta! 1971 Nude Musical
Cover ot the Original Cast Album
Written by Kenneth Tynan.
originally directed by Jacques Levy,
Debuted in Off-Broadway in 1969
Revival in 1976 at Edison Theatre
This musical was considered a controversy because if it's debut being in the first stages of nudity onstage. This appeared after the debut of Hair, only, many people thought Hair was more like The Sound of Music compared to this raunchy musical review.
3) Gay Broadway
www.thecriticalcondition.com/2008/11/09/catholic/Corpus Christi
Picture from the Play, also the Poster image
Written by Terrence McNally
Manhattan Theatre Club. New York City. 22 November 1998
This play is about the life of Jesus Christ through the eyes of a homosexual man. The play was so controversal that after a few performances, the play had to shut down because of bomb threats.
4) Racist Broadway
Miss Siagon 1990 Revival
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_n18_v42/ai_8859928/pg_2?tag=content;col1
"it cannot appear to condone the casting of a Caucasian actor in the role of a Eurasian"
Jonathan Pryce was the original Eurasian pimp in the London production of Miss Siagon, but Actor's Equity didn't wan't him to play it on New York Broadway. They figured because there is such a diverse variety of actors in New York, there would be no need for making a white man into a Eurasian.
5) Raided or Closed
"Naked Boys Singing"
Milwaukee Gay Arts Center 2005
http://www.onmilwaukee.com/politics/articles/politics111408.html
"The cops shut down the play in 2005, contending that the Milwaukee Gay Arts Center didn't have a proper theater license. "
City officals told the company that it needed a liscense to have naked men perform for the public. The company didn't, so it had to be shut down. However, many people believe the whole reason for the shut down is because of the high emphasis on gay lifestyles.
6) Arrested
"Mrs. Warrens Proffession"
"When Arnold Daly attempted a performance of Mrs. Warrens Proffession in 1905, both he and his leading lady were arrested after opending night and the show closed."
This play was very controversial in 1905 because it was a lovestory about an older promiscous woman and a younger man.
7) NEA 4
Karen Finley, Tim Miller, John Fleck, and Holly Hughes
http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_50/reunionofnea.html
"These were the N.E.A. 4 –– the four performance artists who, in that U.S. Supreme Court chamber, on June 15, 1998, heard Justice Sandra Day O’Connor declare, for the majority, that the National Endowment for the Arts had the right to “[take] into consideration general standards of decency and respect for the beliefs and values of the American public” in granting, or not granting, monetary support to individual artists."
This is semi-controversial. I think that artists should do what they feel thay ned to do and express their beliefs in whatever way they can. And if that means that the government will not be able to give them grants, well, that's alright.
8) Regional Theatre
"Seven Jewish Children, a play for Gaza"
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2009/02/anti-israel-pla.html
the last script Rude Guerrilla will perform is "Seven Jewish Children, a play for Gaza," a new 10-minute play by eminent English dramatist Caryl Churchill that is single-mindedly critical of the recent Israeli military campaign.
Many are calling this play controversial because it tell the story of Jewish history from the end of the Holocaust to the recent invasion as crippling Hamas in Gaza. Some say it crosses the line into anti-semetism.
9) College
"Passion of the Musical"
Scene from Passion of the Musical
http://www.thefire.org/index.php/article/6582.html
"Thanks to a campaign led by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), Washington State University (WSU) has rejected the “heckler’s veto” and warned students not to disrupt a controversial play. WSU financed and organized the disruption of a different play by the same student playwright earlier this year."
This was considered very controversial because it was a satyrical musical of the Mel Gebson film "Passion of the Christ".
10) High School
"The Laramie Project"
http://www.ktul.com/news/stories/0309/601291.html
"...she was told by Superintendent Ed Turlington not to run a play called "The Laramie Project", which is about Matthew Shepard, a college student who was tortured and murdered in 1998 because he was gay."
This is a controversal story but it shouldn't be. "The Laramie Project" is a great play that deals with a great subject that many of high schoolers are dealing with today. According to the artical, the reason that it became such a big deal is because the teacher staged a mock funeral scene for the entire high school and that crossed the line. I believe that it was a good idea to do that because it prepared the students for the play and helped to set in their minds.
