Plays with Swearing

I am on a drama course this week, and the play we will perform at the end of the session is "Road" by Jim Cartwright. Unfortunately I made the mistake of showing my dad the sript, and then we moved onto this huge "discussion" (argument) about wether it was suitable for my age group considering the sexual references and the swearing. I just wondered what your thoughts are on this subject. do you believe that swearing within plays is necessary? I think at the age of 15 i am old enough to manage the role of a young girl going out on the booze and swearing etc... the problem is, my dad felt differently! He thought it was highly unsuitable to picksuch a contreversial play for a group of young people. Do you think it is wrong? Jennyflower xxx

 

The truth is that the truth hurts sometimes if you have anything against it. Words are just words unless you put a definition to it and take it to heart. But words can hurt too. But in this case, it's an art.

 

Swear words are fun! Cock, shit, piss, motherfucker, cocksucker!

 

Oh yes, just edit in swear words to gone with the wind and it will be instant entertainment.

 

FreakyJoeMan, you are one crazy ass muthafucka!


Jenny, I am with you 100% on this one babe, its not like you would be swearing AT people! Like George said, its an art, it conveys emotion. Rebel my child!

George, I LOVE your sig! I want to be the first nun in the temple of Neil Young. Sister Sun... Sun Green that is!

 

hey.

Theatre is about breaking bounderies, getting a point across and creating.
Ask him if he'd rather you played a part in a greek piece, say, oedopus rex, would he be offended that they put on a play about deceite, and incest?
Or parhaps a slightly more modern Play? Junk. Written FOR teenagers. Its about the drug culture in the punk era, about two 13 year olds who run away from home and become smack addicts, would he rather you did intencive research, and role preparation for a girl going through cold turkey, being pushed to the point of almost throwing up in rehursals?
Or parhaps going back to the greek stories, agamemnon, a story which points referance to killing someones family and feeding it to the father in a meal?
Shakespear, to almost promote the idea of suicide as romantic?
Or even acting out a scene from say a modern soap opera? would he rather you played a teenage mother?

Theatre is what it is, Theatre. its an art and a way of expressin an idea, how it is expressed is almost irrelevant.

 

"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."

That was a bad word back in those days.

 

wow, gee thanks guys! uve really helped me think of sum more constructive things to say to him about the matter! he phoned up the director today and i think hes eventually been persuaded to come and see me in it. most of the swear words have been edited out anyway. do any of you know of the play? im being carol in it and im finding it quite a challenge! performance is on friday. scary stuff! wish me luck! thanks again. x

 

Hahaha.. for a second I thought you said "contradictive things" and I was like "what...?"... so I read it again... still saw contradictive... then the third time I saw constructive.

 

Tell him your 15, you know about fucking and a play wont warp your mind. Put it exactly like that. You may get grounded but its worth it in the long run. Believe me I did it

 

Ugh I am so sick and tired of the play books they hand drama students. WE HAVE THE BALLS TO HANDLE ACTUAL SITUATIONS! In my school we stray from controversy. Basically, acting should be truth onstage. Hey, people swear, they get high, they kill, they fight, they yell, they get angry, they live. But God forbid you actually depict this on a stage! Every play should be about flower-picking and silly little love scenarios that never happen outside of bad tv. Anyway, this is just my rant. Continue.
Lindiglo

 

Its sad isnt it how limited the minds are of parents? In my drama class are teacher was disapointed because he couldn't let us use the actual content of a skit called "The Philedelphia" because it involved swear words. We had to edit it real bad... I'm sorry but
"Screw em."
"Screw em?"
"Yeah! You dont need that waiter!"
"Yeah! Hey waiter! SCREW YOU!"
Does not have as much power to grab the audience as when use the original word of fuck. Its not like a class of juniors are gonna giggle and go "He said a bad word." They want us to act like mature young adults without letting us be mature young adults. Our play department kept suffering because they wouldn't let us do things with certin "explicit" themes. We actually had to re-write the roll of a character because he was gay. After 5 years their finally getting to do Godspell cause the department is sick of them asking lol. To bad I moved and wont get to see it....

 

well, ive just got back from the performance, and it was absolutely amazing. there was not one dry eye in the house, and that is including my dad. i think he really enjoyed it and regrets saying anything about its content. it was slightly censored for the little brothers and sisters in the audience but the message still came accross loud and clear. what an experience. jen x

 

I've come to this thread a bit late, but can't resist adding my twopenneth here...


You and your Dad have done so well here Jenny He's obviously interested in your life because he took the time to read the script, and he's obviously raised a confident young adult because you were able to stand up for your own opinion.

Are you an eldest child? Because it sounds to me that you have a good father who is just on his own growing curve as a parent.

Bet he can't wait for you to tackle your next dramatic production

 

give him a well-thought-up creativity speech. thats how i got my parents to let me buy and goddam cd/movie i want. tell them that you need to be able to express your teenage feelings and that way is the stage. just play around with the idea, it worked for me. good luck.

 

A lot of plays have the swearing put there for a reason. Its artistic. Can you imagine a Willy Russel play about working class scousers where everyone speaks like Cilla Black? It just wouldn't work!


It's just drama, it's not real. It's not as if you're going to be in character when you go home at night after the last performance.

 

He's involved with amateur dramtics himself, which is why he read the script because i think he kows the play. im not an eldest child, im kind of an only child but i have three half brothers who are in their 30s. He is Musical director for a show called Jack The Ripper at the moment and he wasnt comfortable with me being in that either. i think his main argument was more experienced actors should b playing the roles of the play, but i think when he saw the end result he was shocked that we had all been able to portray the characters so well, he even gave me a tenner he was so proud! x

 

I haven't seen the play or read the script, so I feel like I need more information to give you the good answer you really deserve.


Nevertheless, I would want to know what becomes of the people in the play. What are the sexual situations? Are they realistic--things that might reasonably happen in someone's real life? Would you as a cast member be compelled to do something you might not be comfortable doing in front of an auditorium full of people? Would people give you a hassle about it afterward? What is the message of the play?

Is there a lot of swearing, or just a few words? Does the swearing make sense in the context of the play? In other words, do people swear the way that real people in that situation would swear? It might be possible to tone the swearing down but still get the point(s) across.

What effect will the play have on the people performing and watching? If you think about those questions, you should have the answer that you need.

 

well, every other word is basically fuck or worse. its set in the depression of the 80's and it basically shows how ppl turned to sex and drink as a way of escape. its pretty deep but not everybody can see beneath the surface of the harsh words. luckily we edited and censored it as we knew there would b kids in the audience and we had to cut it down anyway as it was a 40 minute slot. its very hard to explane without the script as it took a while for me to grasp it myself! x

 

Aww you should frame that ten pound note!

Thanks for telling a nosey old woman more about your situation. I think being his first girl child of a new family you will have some other battles to fight, but sounds like you are working things through really well.

It's kind of hard for us supposedly liberal parents you know, we have all these great ideas about being friends with our children and then it suddenly hits us we needed to be parents to them as well..................