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T HE ENTERPRISE Your Complete Source For Plainfield News Since 1887
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Volume 125 No. 10
www.enterprisepublications.com
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Students make case for controversial theater production
A
debate is brewing in the halls at Plainfield Central high School over the decision by school administration to deny the theater program permission to perform “RENT: School Edition” for its spring production, citing inappropriate content. “Several aspects of the show were behind the decision,”district
spokesman Tom Hernandez said. “We’re not going to specify, but generally speaking the show, even the high school version, incorporates drug use, sexual promiscuity, and disregard for the law and authority. Building administrators read the entire script and had sufficient cause for concern to ask the director to make another choice.” Based loosely on Puccini’s La Boheme, RENT follows a year in the life of a group of impoverished young artists and
musicians struggling to survive and create in New York’s Lower East Side under the shadow of HIV/AIDS. Some of the characters are HIV positive, some are drug addicts and some are in recovery. Several are straight and several are gay. In its attempt to appeal to teen theater groups, “RENT: School Edition” has removed from the original version its explicit lyrics and profane dialogue. However, it does not alter the basic characterization
INSIDE
By Sherri Dauskurdas Staff Reporter
or the story line. However, the content Hernandez described is precisely the reason why many of those involved in the production are supporting it. Proponents of the production say it shows real-life struggles in gritty and honest detail. Additionally, in an era where anti-bullying efforts are constantly in the spotlight, “RENT” sends messages of acceptance and friendship. “District 202 has always promoted acceptance and
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tolerance,” said Darlene Zollner, the parent of one of the students in the program.“’RENT’ is basically about a group of friends, who care enough about one another to stick together through thick and thin. Isn’t that the message that we want to convey to our young people?” Controversy around the production is nothing new. Since the “School Edition” was released in 2008, the production See RENT, page 5