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sunnyviewmom
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Do any of you have children involved in community theater? Do you have any concerns about the values and views that they are exposed to either through the content of the plays and/or the people they are working with, particulary the adults?
My 12 year old son has a talent in acting and has been involved with local community theater for 4 years now. He has had wonderful experiences that have been an important part of his development! But now I am questioning if these people (who are very nice, some even "Catholic" but may have different views and values) are actually a bad influence. Also,what about the content of plays? I have a faith filled friend who told me that the "Wizard of Oz" was written to promote the occult. My stomach is tied in knots trying to decide what to do about this.Also, anyone have an opinion on the play "Wicked"?
Anyone have any experience or advice?
Thanks an dGod bless,
sunnyview mom
(Dana)
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missionfamily
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Dana--I just want you to know I have this same debate with myself every summer as the auditions approach for the Children's Theatre Guild. It is my almost 10 yo ds's reason for existing in the summer. He asks about it all year. He can think of nothing else come June. But I am not thrilled with the quality of the scripts chosen, the constant contact with teens, and the influence of los of adults who are very different from us. Luckily, the presence of a few great friends helps some and I try to be as present as possible. The last two summers however, I have had a baby and it was difficult to stay throgh every rehearsal and performance. We take turns with our trusted friends and last summer I uploaded tons of books to ds's iPod and told him if he had down time he needed to do his "summer reading".
I prayed and talked with dh and we both agree that if this is this child's passion ,it is an environment he will have to learn to function in, so we try to control as much as we can while we can and give him the tools he'll need when we are not there to guard his heart for him.
Praying with you!
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MaryM
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We are very fortunate here to have several Christian Youth Theater options in our area which are heavy with homeschoolers. We aren't involved but have many friends who are - and they are very happy with these programs. Is there any chance of finding anything like that in your area?
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Leslie
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I was a theater major for a while in college. I was also very involved in community theater when I was younger. My junior year of high school (the reason I went back to homeschooling) I interned at a Boston Theater company. It doesn't make me an expert, by any stretch of the imagination, but I'll try to share my thoughts.
I'm not sure how my parents accomplished it, but from a young age I felt firm in the morals they taught us (I was not raised catholic). In our family there was no drinking, smoking, drugs...you get the idea. I saw this as something God expected of us and I never, ever, felt tempted to stray from that path (at least not until my 20's).
That being said, my parents trusted me to be in the theater community. I was exposed to a lot of language, irreverence, and imoral discussion and behavior. For some reason, I just chose to ignore it and just threw myself into my acting. Sometimes meaningful conversations took place with my parents over what I was witnessing in this community. I don't think it corrupted me. If anything it made me dig my heels into what I believed more.
I'm not at all sure how I will handle this with my kids. I'm amazed at how my parents trusted us. I'm amazed at my own trustworthiness! I look at all the teenagers are faced with in the world and I want to believe I will teach my children effectively to avoid the bad stuff. I guess we will take it a day at a time and I hope that I will have the same kind of trust between parent and child that I had with my own parents. Only you know your son and how he will handle others who have different views and values.
As far as content...My personal opinion is we can't protect ourselves and our children from everything. I think exposure to literature and plays that challenge what we believe and think are really useful tools in solidifying our values. I think all art can be looked at in a million different ways and it is up to us to choose how it will influence us. I think as our children get older we have to help them learn how to handle those influences too and sort out their own choices. We won't always be there to change the channel or block the internet. 
So, there's my 2 cents (plus some) 
Peace,
Leslie
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MacBeth
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Our homeschool group has its own theater component, but my kids did take a summer theater workshop at a Catholic high school last summer, and it was a bit disappointing in terms of content.
I don't have any problem with The Wizard of Oz, but the book upon which Wicked is based is pornographic. The musical, which I have not seen but have heard reviewed by friends, seems OK, though the music is frivolous. Ah...Broadway.
I think that what Colleen said is important. If a child is going to function in the performing arts, they have much to get used to and, deal with, though not necessarily embrace; if we can be there with them (>sigh< my father now calls me "stage mom," but he has no idea how other real stage moms act compared with me...  ) and help explain and demonstrate how one responds to certain elements, it will reduce the problems they might encounter in the future.
So, I guess my advice is "be there" for as long as you can!
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Matilda
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For what it is worth, I worked in the theater in high school, a theater major in college, and was also a participant in some community theater. This was all before I really found my faith. Knowing what I know now, I would not be comfortable letting my children have anything to do with community theater.
As far as the play Wicked goes, the whole play revolves around the Wicked Witch of the West as a sympathetic character. It is one of those unfairy tales where it is written from the villain's point of view. One of the songs contains a line that asks are people born wicked or do they have wickedness thrust upon them, intimating that she was born with green skin because her mother was having an affair with a lover who gave her green tonic to drink and that maybe she is only called wicked because her parents rejected her "greeness". In other words, they didn't love her for the way she was, so she had a rough life and that's why she became wicked. Free will decisions had nothing to do with it.
There are also some problems with the Wizard character. He is portrayed as the man oppressing the workers and she alone had the courage to stand up to him, reveal him as a fraud (after admiring him so much) and defy his order of gravity. Kind of a confusing part and smacks a little of "challenge authority because you know more than they do".
I will admit that I enjoy some of the music and always enjoy seeing clips of Kristen Chenowith as Galinda. Hope that helps.
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folklaur
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My DH has an AA degree in Tech Theater. If you spend any time in professional theater of any sort, you will run into ALL kinds of people, with widely different outlooks on life.
And there is nothing wrong with the book the Wizard of Oz. 
The play is a different story.
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CrunchyMom
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cactus mouse wrote:
My DH has an AA degree in Tech Theater. If you spend any time in professional theater of any sort, you will run into ALL kinds of people, with widely different outlooks on life.
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I'm afraid that I would have to agree. You can't just make a blanket statement about community theater. I minored in theater, and if my children were to be involved in one of my college productions, I would have to be with them all the time. However, I was involved in a community production of The Sound of Music at a smaller, community college, and the director was Christian and created family friendly environment where there were enough Christian parents around that I would have felt more comfortable in it being the "learning experience" cited above.
FWIW, I, too, was exposed to a lot through theater but kept my faith, and it was in getting a glimpse into the harsher realities of that world (you are often very alone in being convicted in your morals) that made me decided after MUCH consideration not to enter it professionally.
I found it a good time in my life (as a young adult) to "dine with sinners" so to speak, but I think that different communities would vary in how much they would expose a child to.
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chicken lady
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I grew up in Community theatre, and my dc have participated in one locally. We love the theatre, we even have produced our own plays here, involving other hs families. We pick and choose the plays we either audition for or produce.
Pray to John Paul II for guidance and you may want to read his letter to the artist (sorry I cannot link right now, just google it).
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sunnyviewmom
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Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all who responded. I feel that the Holy Spirit guided me in asking my question and guided your responses. Of course, if anyone would like to add something further, that would be appreciated as well. My huband and I will continue to take this to prayer, but will have to make decisions regarding this summer very soon.This forum is such a blessing. Thanks again! May we all be guided by the Holy Spirit as we discern God's will for our children and families.
Dana
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SallyT
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One more response: my older kids have been very involved in our local children's theatre, which has been a good experience, mostly due to the ground rules established by the director, addressing everything from attire to language to how older children treated younger ones. Her leadership ensured that a play was a good experience for all children involved, including little ones and special-needs kids. Most of the plays she did were original scripts, many of them based on fairy tales, and they were often funny without being gross or adult. My oldest daughter wrote a "fractured fairy tale" play last year, inspired by ones she had been in, and this director helped her to revise it, and appointed her assistant director when it was performed last spring. I really cannot say enough about what a good experience this was, and how great a debt of gratitude we owe this director.
This same daughter has tried out for plays at other theatres in our community, and I have to say that both she and I have been glad she didn't get cast in any of them. She's a strong, solid, trustworthy kid, and I have seen through other experiences that she can handle herself in the face of less-than-optimal possible influences. Still and all, I was glad not to have her keeping company regularly with the denizens of the grownup theatre community -- not so much because they would change her thinking or cause her to lose her faith, but just because the duration of a play is a long time for a kid to feel like an awkward outsider. As an adult she can choose where to spend her time and how to handle the negatives of a given situation, but I'm just not convinced that childhood is the time for long-term exposure either to negative influences or to the accumulated misery of resisting them more or less alone.
I've thought off and on about forming a homeschooling drama co-op, depending on what things are like when/where we move. I'm not that much of a theatre person, but I've done some acting and behind-the-scenes stuff, and I figure that if we can't find an acting outlet we like, then we'll just make one up ourselves. Scenes from Shakespeare in the back yard . . . audience on picnic blankets . . . potluck dinner . . . how hard could it be?
We just have to buy a house with a big enough yard to do this.
Sally
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SallyT
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And no, no "Wicked." My mother, rather unknowingly I think, bought my daughter the book for Christmas a couple of years ago. My daughter read part of it and was horrified and threw it away, because as she said, she didn't want anyone else reading it, either. I think The Wizard of Oz is fine -- it's kind of early-20th-century utopian, but I don't know of any occult associations with it.
Sally
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Mary K
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Hi,
I was wondering what is wrong with the play the Wizard of Oz? 2 of my dds were cast in it last year,one as a munchkin and the other as a citizen of Emerald City and as a Winkie (the wicked witch's guards). They both had a great time and I saw nothing related to the occult in it.
As for Wicked, I wouldn't allow the book in my house but have tickets to the show here in June.
Mary-NY
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Mary K
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Wikipedia has some interesting information about the political meanings behind the Wizard of Oz.
God bless,
Mary-NY
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folklaur
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Mary K wrote:
Hi,
I was wondering what is wrong with the play the Wizard of Oz? |
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Sorry - I think this was in response to my unclear post  . Nothing is wrong with teh WoO play - the problem was with the play "Wicked."
Sorry I wasn't clear
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MacBeth
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SallyT wrote:
I've thought off and on about forming a homeschooling drama co-op, depending on what things are like when/where we move. I'm not that much of a theatre person, but I've done some acting and behind-the-scenes stuff, and I figure that if we can't find an acting outlet we like, then we'll just make one up ourselves. Scenes from Shakespeare in the back yard . . . audience on picnic blankets . . . potluck dinner . . . how hard could it be?
We just have to buy a house with a big enough yard to do this.
Sally |
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What it looks like in our group. Hard? Heheheh. Yeah, but it's sooo fun.
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MacBeth in NY
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teachingmom
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We've had a good experience with a local community theater group. The leadership of the group are all from a Mormon church. I have sort of mixed feelings - I do not worry about moral issues in the way I would with another group, but I worry a bit about them proselytizing the other participants. I warned my dd (who was 11) in advance and she did not experience any evangelizing efforts on the part of the Mormons at all. I really wish some Catholics would sponsor a theater group and do some wholesome community theater.
There are also some good children's community theater groups. My niece was in a local production that was wonderful. The ages only went up to 18 and the plays they produce are definitely aimed at children.
Finally, our neighborhood homeschooling group has a drama group. We put on short one and two act plays about 4-5 times each year. It's not the same as the experience of being in a large, full-scale community theater production, but we do use a community center auditorium, so the kids get real experience being in play on stage. My girls LOVE this activity!
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SallyT
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Yeah, Macbeth, I was joking . . . I have an idea how hard it would be, but I think it would be fun, anyway.
Sally
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MacBeth
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SallyT wrote:
Yeah, Macbeth, I was joking . . . I have an idea how hard it would be, but I think it would be fun, anyway.
Sally |
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Absolutely, Sally; there is nothing like performing Shakespeare for fun, camaraderie, and a living education. (BTW, I have seen your byline in First Things, haven't I?--great stuff, always.)
I can't help but post a blog-link to the production we are currently performing, Twelfth Night. This was a very different production, and more difficult in many ways, but the performers are a year older this year, and it showed. When the video is done, I'll post a link to it, too.
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MacBeth in NY
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SallyT
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Oh, wow, I'll have to check that blog post. I love Twelfth Night. My older kids and I went to see West Side Story yesterday here in town, which has spurred my teenager to think about reading Romeo and Juliet.
And yep, that's me in First Things. Thanks for the compliment.
Sally
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4Real Forums : The Arts in the Everyday
Topic: community theater :bad influence?
