controversy_assessment (1) (1)

Too Much Controversy? Assessment Step 1 : Define Your Community Complete the chart using research or personal knowledge of where you live. Knowing your audience, how will that impact what they deem appropriate content? Reflection Questions My Response Briefly describe the community you live in. Is it a big city or a small town? Is there a community or high school theater? I live in a relatively small town, there is a high school theater. What are the social and cultural norms? What do people you know value? What might the people you know find problematic in a production? While most people in the theater program and most people I personally know are progressive, my town is overall pretty conservative. So anything sexual, lgbt, or overly political would likely be problematic for a production. Research a school or community theater in or near your town. What are some recent productions? What values and beliefs do they reflect? The local highschools recent productions have been Mama Mia, The Sound of Music, Spongebob the Musical, and Putnam County Spelling Bee. Step 2 : Community and Controversy Read each play’s description. Then, determine the appropriate category (“controversial” if you feel it isn’t a good choice for a high school production in your community , “not controversial” if you feel it’s a good high school choice). In the last column on the right, you’ll explain your reasoning. What makes it a controversial choice, or what makes it a safe choice? Your explanations should be at least two sentences in length and should reflect the perspective of your community, not your personal preference. What you deem as controversial or not controversial may not be viewed that way by your community at large. An example is provided. Title Official Description Controversia l Not Controversia l Explanation SAMPLE: You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown With charm, wit, and heart, You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown explores life through the eyes of Charlie Brown and his friends in the Peanuts gang. This revue of songs and X This is a great show for my local school to do. The content is appropriate, as it is based on a childhood favorite, Unless Otherwise Noted All Content © 2022 Florida Virtual School. FlexPoint™ is a trademark of Florida Virtual School.

vignettes, based on the beloved Charles Schulz comic strip, is the ideal first show for those who would like to do a musical. and it is an easy show for performers and tech. Rent In the late 1980s and early 1990s, friends in Manhattan’s East Village struggle to build the lives of their dreams. Pennilessness, drug abuse, HIV/AIDS, social tension, and political unrest, among other hardships, challenge the group physically and emotionally. x This would be a controversial production, because of the political and lgbt themes, and the drug use and profanity. The Skin of Our Teeth George Antrobus, inventor of the wheel and the alphabet, lives with his wife of 5,000 years and their two children in New Jersey. Modeled after the biblical Adam, Eve, Cain, and Abel, the family survives multiple end-of-world experiences by the skin of their teeth. x This would not be controversial, because it is biblical and depicts a nuclear family despite its darker themes. American Psycho 26-year-old Patrick Bateman: a sophisticated, rich, and devastatingly handsome Wall Street banker in 1980s New York City. There’s just one snag: Patrick can’t get the blood out of his $5,000 suits because he also has a murderous, psychopathic alter ego. x This would be controversial in a highschool production because the horror aspects would not be seen as age appropriate, but would be alright as a community theater production. Six Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. From Tudor Queens to Pop Princesses, the SIX wives of Henry VIII take the mic to remix five hundred years of historical heartbreak into an exuberant celebration of 21st-century girl power. x This would not be controversial because it is historical in some respect and is a relatively clean musical Unless Otherwise Noted All Content © 2022 Florida Virtual School. FlexPoint™ is a trademark of Florida Virtual School.

Title (from list above) Official Description Controversia l Not Controversia l Explanation ● Mamma Mia! The plot follows a young bride- to-be who invites three men to her upcoming wedding, with the possibility that any of them could be her father. X Mama Mia is a relatively clean musical with no overly progressive themes. ● Little Shop of Horrors The story follows a hapless florist shop worker who raises a plant that feeds on human blood and flesh. X The themes of abuse and murder may be deemed not age appropriate for a highschool Unless Otherwise Noted All Content © 2022 Florida Virtual School. FlexPoint™ is a trademark of Florida Virtual School.