Censorship?!

I lean toward no censorship. But I respect that some people will choose not to view/listen to particular material. Potentially sensitive content should be forewarned with a disclaimer. (Funny enough, that will often attract some people to watch, sick & twisted bunch we are).

Cutting lines from scripts is another argument. Yes, there is sometimes a legal issue, and the license to perform the work may be revoked if the writer (copywrite holder) objects to changes. I usually feel that there should be a way to make the line work, rather than cutting it.

But sometimes the old red pen can be a blessing to a script (you should DEFINITELY disregard stage directions!). I doubt there has been a professional production of Shakespeare that hasn't undergone some trimming here or there. (Like the Christopher Sly scenes in Taming the Shrew - Bill, what were you thinking?!)
And there are probably many instances where a script can be improved by cutting, if the integrity can be maintained and perhaps told in other ways.

At BGko I've noticed one of the most valued assets of a scriptwriter is the ability to "let go". Writers like Ingle Knight got a lot of work because he wasn't too precious about his scripts.
Mind you, this was new work, which was then developed with the actors onstage. What about established material? I heard that for a while David Williamson refused to see his own earlier plays, because he felt he would be too critical of the writer! He felt that if he revisited them, he'd probably want to make cuts too. (He was actually able to make some changes later, when he was involved in the film treatments).


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