New Poll - Theatre Ratings

The following article from the Sydney Morning Herald regarding the production of 'XXX' in Sydney:

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/02/04/1075776097736.html

Two points:

1. QUOTE: "In between, the capacity crowd at the Australian premiere of the Spanish theatre troupe La Fura dels Baus's provocative show, XXX, in Melbourne last night, was treated to incest, cunnilingus, fellatio and graphic scenes of pornography projected onto the back of the stage."

Question: How would you know it was incest? All I can think of is a sort of flashing red graphic proclaiming "INCEST! INCEST! INCEST!" - but then, I'm not all tha subtle! :o)

And much more relevant to this discussion:

2. QUOTE: "Yesterday, the Australian Office of Film and Literature Classification granted an R-rating to XXX's 20 minutes of pre-recorded explicit footage. However, an announcement before the show, explaining that the footage had been modified to achieve the rating, drew boos from the audience."

COMMENT: This is where I vote a resounding NO to any sort of 'regulation' of the content of Theatre productions. The audiences clearly don't want it, the 'impact' of this show (it could be argued) was 'lessened' by the submission to censorship.

And frankly, at what point are WE allowed to govern what WE see?

We rail at the idea of some faceless bureaucrat in Canberra deciding how much tax we should pay, or how much funding the Arts should be denied this year, yet submit "sheeplike" to THEIR sense of 'moraility.'

Certainly, I would have thought, one of the most personal, private and profound parts of life is in the discovery of what you will personally accept, or NOT accept? And the only way to know is to 'experience' it, presumably.

I'm not for a moment saying this production gives us palpable experience- but it certainly looks as though it could make its audiences think about the continuous hypocrisy surrounding this subject!

Or maybe they're just in it for the cash!

Regards,
Jason

P.S Interesting to note that the only place they actually had 'moralistic outrage' over the production was in London. There, it seems, a different kind of 'watchdog' has been set up to regulate the public sensibility - fascinating it was the tabloids - Page 3 Girls and all!