Does Violence Take Away From Enjoyment of a Show?
By Aaron Smollins (Staff Writer)
Putting on fun and exciting dramas is notorious for the Samo theater department. When coming up with what show to put on in the fall and spring, there are limits to what they can include like nudity and profanity. However, limiting what is included can take away from what the show was intended to have on the audience. Although I say this, there should be a certain extent to how violent or inappropriate a play can be.
Recently announced, the Fall play this year is “1984,” a play version of the best selling dystopian novel written by George Orwell. A book filled with many sexual scenes obviously had to be cut from the play because it is not societically right to include sex scenes in a high school drama. While these sexual scenes were cut, there is still a large amount of gruesome and violent induced acts with flashing lights and special effects. Like in the book, these goury and torturous scenes are deep enough to traumatize the audience. In the trailer that was presented to me for the 1984 drama, intense strobing lights added an eerie and intense aura which makes the buildup to the play very exciting but frightening at the same time. On the other hand, no violence in a play doesn’t allow the audience to experience emotional connection to the show. Therefore, there should be a balance between too much and too little to add.
When it comes to theater, Georgia Press (’23), president of the Samo Theater council, knows what is best for the show through her four year tenure in the Samo theater program.
“You have to keep it school appropriate when choosing an option that will still interest your viewers. You don’t want to make your audience uncomfortable and you definitely don’t want them to watch your show and think that it makes no sense. You want to make sure the audience is having as much fun as you are,” Press said.
Even if a school play is kept appropriate at Samo,1984 is a play that is violent on a spectrum unlike past plays that have been put on like last year’s Clue and Legally blonde productions.
“I can’t remember when Samohi Theater had a scene that was too controversial or inappropriate. We do stage combat and lots of somewhat controversial Shakespere scenes like when Henry the Eighth eats his sons but, we always keep things PG,” Press said.
Keeping things PG and appropriate can take away from what the screen writers had intended. Performing a play with inappropriate acts and scenes can make the audience uncomfortable but the viewers should enjoy the show without feeling weirded out while still experiencing the greatness of the show. However the intensity and excitement that may get you on the edge of your seat is what is special about including violent acts in theater productions just like the thrill of horror movies.