(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Paula Vogel's Indecent and 100 Years of Censorship and Bigotry [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-02-26 Screenshot from Madeline Scotti's video. I’m going to ask something of you. I am not asking for myself, but for a group of drama students in a state where creativity is feared and frowned upon, where thinking is frowned upon, where growth - intellectual and emotional - is frowned upon. Worse, where all of those things are legislated, to prevent them, preclude them, block them. A couple of months ago, students at Douglas Anderson High School of the Arts in Duval County, Florida, were busy preparing their production of Paula Vogel’s play, Indecent. Indecent, was inspired by Sholem Asch’s God of Vengeance. The first live performance of Indecent was scheduled to be shown 100 years after the entire cast of God of Vengeance was arrested on obscenity charges in NYC. A young woman in the play (by the name of Madeline Scotti. Remember the name) posted on Instagram in January that their play had been shut down by their local school board. Here is her short video (YT version, 2:24) about the censorship they encountered. x YouTube Video This is the same video she posted on her Instagram account, since reposted on FB and possibly other social media. This young artist was to be the Ingenue in the production. She is passionate, articulate, emotional, caring … but mostly she is astonishingly AWARE. It will not come as news to active members of this site that such outrages happen. It will not come as news that our generation has not done as complete a job as we would have liked to insulate coming generations from this type of conflict, anymore than we have achieved much in the way of protecting them from gun violence in schools and elsewhere. I wish they did not have to become so politically active so quickly in their young lives, but the fact is that we need them. We needed them in the mid-terms, we will need them more in 2024. We need them every moment in between. There is no minimum age for growing up, their is no minimum age for vulnerability to the kind of political manipulations that that other party loves most. So, we need their voices, we need their votes, we need their passion and their activism. Right now, we need to have their backs. Pen America interviewed Paula Vogel, the author of Indecent. Apparently Paula Vogel broke down into tears when she watched Madeline Scotti’s powerful video. PEN: Were you surprised when you heard your play had been shut down for “adult sexual themes?” Yes, I was. I’m not in the business of politics, but whatever that board says in terms of statements that they’ve released about why they’re doing this, they’re putting sheep’s clothing over a wolf. And the wolf is Governor DeSantis. So the school board is saying, oh, this has nothing to do with the Don’t Say Gay bill. Right. Can I sell you a bridge? What does surprise me is the courage of this high school student for speaking out and the courage of the students in that cast. And, later in the interview, Vogel says: That’s a false reason that’s put forward, [that the cancelation was due to] the maturity of the material. The truth of the matter is my play, like Sholem Asch’s before me, wrote in a positive way about women falling in love. And it was seen as very pure and very innocent. So, yes, I think that this is an easier issue as a way to police the sexuality of their students and to say to gay, lesbian, bi, queer, and trans students, you’d better sit down in the back of the class and shut your mouth. Teen Vogue also reported on this story. Duval County Public Schools told Teen Vogue in an email that the show’s cancellation is not related to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ infamous Parental Rights in Education law, which is known informally by critics as the Don’t Say Gay law. “Indecent contains adult sexual dialog that is inappropriate for student cast members and student audiences,” Duval County Public Schools spokesperson Tracy Pierce told Teen Vogue on Friday. “It’s that simple. The decision has no relevance to any legislation but is rather a function of our responsibilities to ensure students engage in educational activities appropriate for their age.” Douglas Anderson theater students, including Scotti, say they don’t believe the school district’s reasoning is legitimate, citing previous school productions of shows with mature content including Chicago and RENT. From the moment I first saw it, in a tour show here in town, I have been in love with RENT. No one who watched RENT could ever say that it does not deal with mature themes, with racial, homosexual and transgender issues and characters. As Madeline Scotti said of Indecent, for me, RENT is all about LOVE, its transcendence, how it percolates among members of our species. I do think it unlikely that RENT would pass muster with school board censors after the Don’t Say Gay bill. But, the history is the history, and this is a terrible change. There are plenty of other stories about this censorship, most of which have been written or produced because of the students’ activism, and their refusal to lie down in the face of injustice. My ask: Recommend Madeline Scotti’s excellent video. Share it with friends and interested parties. Visit the links to the stories about this situation (Pen America, Teen Vogue). If you would like more detail on the original case with Sholem Asch and God of Vengeance, it may be found here. Stunning story. The ACLU declined to assist the play’s director with his appeal! If you would like to view the script for Indecent, I found it on the Wayback Machine, probably available in other places, but that is where I found it. Talk about the cancelation of the Florida school’s production of Indecent. Talk about it with friends and family in Florida. Vote, as she so wisely counseled! (And not for those who revel in such censorship and bigotry, please. Not for those who defend it, who rationalize it, who try to normalize it.) Finally, sign Madeline Scotti’s petition at change.org to compel the local school board to be more forthcoming about the actual reasoning behind the cancelation. If you like, there is an option for making a small donation to the cause, to help spread news of this cancelation further than has been done so far. As of this moment, they have assembled 711 signatures of the 1,000 hoped for. Watch Madeline Scotti’s speech a second and a third time. She is a magnificent speaker. I hope she learns how powerful her voice is, and that she uses it wisely for the rest of her life, as an actress, a director and as an activist. She is a hero and a leader. We wish you the best, Madeline Scotti and friends. You deserve better. I’m very proud of you for refusing to take injustice lying down. Godspeed. 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