Let's Talk About [Insert Controversy Here]

Let's Talk About [Insert Controversy Here] There's nothing we love more than a good, old-fashioned controversy. No matter how much we say we say that we wish people could be nice and get along and have long, respectful conversations about explosive issues, we still line up to watch the fireworks go off. No matter who you are, or how understanding you try to be of all sides of any issue, there is some always topic out there waiting for you to let loose the full power of your rage. I'm skeptical of the theater's power to incite passion in the public anymore. I know this is a heretical statement for a theatre practitioner to make; but the average person just doesn't go to see theater. It isn't the realm where the public at large plays out its fantasies and fears. We have TV, movies, the internet and football to do that. But (and this is a big BUT), as a general cynic, I have to recognize the fact that I'm probably going to be wrong a lot more than I am right. Every time I get gloomy at the prospect of theater having any kind of impact at all (besides people lining up to see Wicked), something happens that kicks me in my gloomy butt. Somehow, Minnesota is finding itself awash in theatrical controversy as of late, so let's talk about it, shall we? Inheriting Nothing There are some topics we'll never get tired of talking about. It's been 88 years since John Scopes was put on trial for teaching evolution in a Tennessee classroom and 58 years since the play Inherit the Wind dramatized the event. With so much time and so much overwhelming scientific evidence in favor of the theory of evolution, you might think that this half-century-old play wouldn't be able to pack a punch anymore, especially since the play was actually written as a dissection of the rampant, paranoid McCarthyism of the time. You would be wrong if you thought that. New Ulm Actors Community Theater had been set to present this old chestnut this season, but the production was recently cancelled after objections to the play by members of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. The director of the show, a student at New Ulm's Martin Luther College (a school associated with WELS, which, among other things, believes the book of Genesis is a literal account), pulled out of the show following pressure from professors at his school and much of the cast followed suit. This has lead to the theater company pulling the show altogether. The Song Remains the Same Just because a controversy is old doesn't mean that it's gone away. That's a lesson the Ordway is learning the hard way this year. As I've covered in past posts, the 24-year-long legacy of protests against Miss Saigon is still continuing in Minnesota, and it didn't go away just because Mu Performing Arts finished its discussions on the topic. The Ordway recently held its own community discussion on the topic, and it seems that their regular audience was not aware that there was any kind of controversy. Unfortunately, many of the critics of the show did not attend this particular discussion. Combined with the attendees' apparent ignorance of the topic at hand, this part of the ongoing discussion electronic realm. Gods of Drama This Saturday, Mixed Blood will feature the debut of a trinity of new plays loosely based on the Hindu gods of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Written by Aditi Kapil, the plays Brahman/i: A One-Hijra Stand-Up Comedy Show, The Chronicles of Kalki and Shiv (collectively called Displaced Hindu Gods) take inspiration from this pantheon in order to explore modern topics like transgender identity and post-colonialism. Of course, using these deities as jumping-off points to explore other avenues may seem innocuous enough to those of us who are largely ignorant of the tenets of Hinduism. However, this does not mean that others will find it so innocuous. After catching wind of these new plays, the Universal Society of Hinduism, a Nevada-based organization, issued press releases decrying the plays' trivialization of the gods. However, the president of the Universal Society, Rajan Zed, has admitted that he has not seen or read any of the plays in question. In the past, USH has also protested singer Selena Gomez for wearing a bindi, a video game for using Hindu terms and concepts in a comedy (instead of protesting it for being absolutely terrible, like the rest of us did). Mixed Blood has reached out to Zed for discussion and has offered to send him the plays to read. As of yet, USH has not replied to this offer. Trying to Provoke? The one thing that all these plays have in common is that none of the producers set out to stir up this kind of discussion. In the meantime, other plays that were constructed to poke at issues seemed to have missed the people's nerve. Clybourne Park was purposely written to start arguments, but it sailed through the Guthrie without stirring up a fuss (well, mostly). Park Square is currently running Good People, a Tony-nominated play that explores class and wealth in our "classless society". While reviewers are praising the cast and the sharp dialogue, they have also noted that the play does not seem dangerous or profound enough to stir up any kind of lasting discussion. Sometimes, though, it does take an old play to start a conversation. In searching around for good examples, I happened upon a review of a production of A Raisin in the Sun in Chicago that reminded me how a play can actually spark real discussion. The reviewer, instead of dwelling on the particular production, felt compelled to talk about why this old classic still has important things to say to our modern society. It's worth a read if you want to get away from all the controversy.