PLAY GETS AXE
ARLINGTON STUDENTS BARRED FROM STAGING `ADULT' COMEDY
Wednesday, May 13, 1998
ARLINGTON - School administrators this week squelched a play to be performed by Martin High School drama students that included references to heterosexual and homosexual activity and called for a student to bare her breasts.
The one-act play, condensed by a student director from a three-act play titled Five Women Wearing the Same Dress , also had references to casual alcohol and drug use throughout.
"I reviewed the play," Superintendent Mac Bernd said. "We found it completely unacceptable for any kind of high-school experience."
The incident comes on the heels of another controversy at Martin High involving the student newspaper, The Warrior Post . Bernd said he will discuss that issue with trustees during the board meeting tomorrow.
The "goodbye" issue of the paper contained senior columns that referred to alcohol use, heterosexual and homosexual activity and contained derogatory references to local ministers.
Bernd said he was first contacted about the play Friday by the Rev. Barry Cameron, senior pastor of Arlington Christian Church, after a student brought it to Cameron's attention.
The play is a comedy about five women discussing a wedding they just attended. The play includes profane language, dramatizations of marijuana and cocaine use and conversations about casual sex and oral sex.
One character says: "If I ever get to heaven and there's not an open bar, God is going to have some serious explaining to do."
Bernd said he contacted Martin Principal Steve Jacoby, who by that time, had also acquired a copy of the play. Bernd said he and Jacoby agreed that the play should not be performed or used in the classroom in any way.
Kristen Moore, the sophomore assigned a role that called for her to display her breasts, said she had complained to the student director about the play but had felt intimidated about complaining to her drama teacher, Karen Baker, because of a previous disagreement.
When contacted for comment last night, Baker referred all questions to Jacoby, thanked the newspaper for its concern and hung up.
Moore told her mother, Jan Long, late Thursday night, and Long called the school Friday morning and Cameron later that day.
"This shouldn't have happened," Long said. "They told me in today's society, you can't find a play without sex, drugs, whatever in them. Whatever happened to Shakespeare?"
Moore said Baker had divided the Theater Arts II class into three groups. The student director of each group was to choose a play, condense it and get it ready for performance this week.
A memo Baker sent home to parents, dated May 5, informed them that these student-directed plays would be a major part of this six weeks' grade.
Jacoby said yesterday he had not read the complete three-act play and therefore could not say if the student-edited version differed greatly from the original. He said Baker told him she hadn't seen the student-edited version until Monday.
"I can tell you the student-edited version that contained the script was totally unacceptable, whether it did or didn't reflect the original," Jacoby said.
However, Long said two students wrote letters to Jacoby yesterday on Moore's behalf, saying that Baker was fully aware of the contents of the play.
Jacoby also said that Baker said no student would have ever been allowed to bare her breasts in a performance.
Jacoby said that to the best of his knowledge, the student got the play from the fine arts library. Students check out material from the library through the drama teachers. Administrators did not disclose the name of the student director.
Bernd said he didn't know if any further action would be taken. His first priority was to make sure the play is not performed or used under any circumstances.
"We have not concluded that an administrative leave with pay is required to conduct our investigation, so we are still looking into that situation," Bernd said.
However, Bernd said Robbie Griffin, sponsor of the school newspaper, was placed on administrative leave with pay this week after Jacoby determined that the paper "violated our board policy on student publications and is highly offensive to a number of people and the community."
Griffin could not be reached for comment last night.
In the "cheers & jeers" section, a reference was made to four students who were sent home early from a Martin band trip to Orlando, Fla., after they were found with alcohol.
"After years of watching labels pass from group to group, it's always nice to have an entirely new organization take on the highly respected and primarily incorrect label of `drunks,' " the item under "cheers" said.
(sarah's note: i'm the unfortunate writer)
Jacoby, who referred to the statement as a cheap shot, said the school had followed appropriate disciplinary procedures in making decisions about the four students.
The paper also contained several statements asking ministers to "leave us alone." Cameron said this is a reference to his and the Rev. Dwight McKissic's complaints about an article that ran in the Nov. 17 issue of The Warrior Post that profiled the Teen Project, which provides counseling for teen-agers struggling with homosexual feelings.
Cameron and McKissic complained that no balancing view that encouraged rejection of homosexuality was offered. Cameron said yesterday he has confidence in Bernd, as well as in Jacoby.
Still, Cameron said, "Every time something like this comes up, Mr. Jacoby says he didn't know about it. Well, who is in charge? Where does the buck stop?"
As for the students involved in editing the paper or those submitting senior columns, Bernd said no decision has been made about punishment.
"At this point, we haven't made any determinations about the role of the students in the publication or what our response to that should be," Bernd said. "Our response, at this point, is reviewing the activity of the sponsor."