William Marshall <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>Why was my play, SIXTEEN WORDS FOR WATER, not produced in Melbourne? The
>short answer is I dunno. The answer I sometimes speculate over is fear. The
>then-artistic-director of the company (Melbourne Theatre Company) and his
>actress-wife (who played the role of the Justice Department psychiatrist in
>the ABC Radio National production, are both Jewish. I suspect that word got
>out that they were planning a play on Pound and were discreetly informed
>that this might prove unnecessarily provocative to many of their
>subscribers
>sensibilities... this despite the fact that the Jewish Cronicle in London
>had called it "a play worth seeing", and it's success with audiences and
>critics in Sydney... mind you, I am only guessing. What I have always found
>curious is that theatre companies of this stature, subsidised by govt
>grants
>are not in the habit of paying playwrights thousands of dollars NOT to
>produce their plays. I am still somewhat dumbfounded ... and recently
>offered the company the opporunity to retrieve their option (which expired
>in 1995) at no extra cost. Their answer: a deafening silence.
>
>Stoneking

I am not sure how much of this discussion relates to the issue of "freedom
of expression" of the banning of a play, though I sympathize with the
author's frustration.  If the authorities, even after having paid for the
production, have decided NOT to show the play, are we talking of banning?
Of course the question WHY the play is not being produced, needs addressing.

If the author is concerned that his work is being banned or suppressed in
some way, because of its content, then I invite him to put excerpts of the
play on the web, so that potential readers or audience members may not be
deprived of the controversial subject matter.

I might politely suggest that since the author has been paid, he might have
a moral obligation (to the people of Australia at least) to put the work on
a Web site, or parts of the work.

In this new "information age," censorship is nearly impossible; so if the
content of any particular work remains unknown to the public, then the
reason must lie (to a large degree) in the free choice made by the author.


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