Contributed by Nan Potts
Who would have thought depicting life, in this case fictional, would shut down a local production due to its perceived contents? Well, it’s happened. Three days prior to opening, a spokesman for the Valley Performing Arts announced the cancellation of A Bunch of Amateurs.
When Valley Performing Arts purchased the licensing for the play, A Bunch of Amateurs, is unknown. That is privy to the Producer. It was scheduled to be VPA’s last performance of the 2019 season. Both the film and the play depict an aging actor who is washed up in Hollywood and gets a second chance when his agent books him in Shakespeare’s play, King Lear. Expecting to be performing with the Royal Shakespeare Company, he accepts. To his dismay, he finds himself in the quaint country village of Stratford in Suffolk, England, working with a bunch of amateurs! If you enjoy British humor, it’s a frolicking romp of sensual misconceptions and misunderstandings by the English countryfolk and the American has-been.
Written by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman, ‘Amateurs’ was originally a screenplay for David Parfitt’s 2008 film. Starring Burt Reynolds, Samantha Bond, Sir Derek Jacobi and Imelda Staunton, it was previewed by The Queen (of England) and voted the Royal Film Performance of 2008. As Newman describes in his Author Notes, “The Queen apparently enjoyed it so much that she requested a screening at Sandringham that Christmas.” Several years later it was revised by the authors into a stage production. Again, quoting Newman’s notes, “Whereas the film was written purely from imagination, the play was based far more on our experience of working with a bona fide Hollywood star.”
With that said, VPA raised concerns regarding inappropriate language and perceived content for its audiences. It suggested the Director “modify” parts of the script so as not to be “offensive”. In my experience, “offensiveness” is subjective and “in the eye of the beholder”.
To enlighten the theater goer, when a producer purchases the licensing for a play, they agree to preform it “as written” under strict copyrighting laws. A producer may request to modify or eliminate parts of the play at the time the license is purchased – all this information is in the scripts of the Producer (VPA), Director, Stage Managers and Cast. VPA’s purchased licensing agreement was not disclosed to this Director, Cast or Crew.
I was the Assistant Stage Manager. The above items were in my script and it was our understanding that we perform the play “as written”. However, VPA requested we modify some of the language several weeks into rehearsals. This is a copyright infringement, but a little softening of swearing didn’t seem to flag the Copyrighting Police. As rehearsals progressed and the play became alive, again VPA came to us with concerns (keep in mind, this play was approved and the cast vetted by VPA), this time regarding perceived subject matter and cast members. What was requested would have changed the entire premise of the storyline, not to mention copyright infringements. The Director declined the request. We were four days from opening with sets, lights, sound, props and cast ready. The next day we were shut down. Why?
I enjoy good theater (again, subjective). Being involved in it, I appreciate it more and have experienced it’s not always a “safe place”. It is there to entertain, but also provoke thought and solicit emotions from its audiences. People who attend theater, in general, love theater. They also have the choice to attend performances or not. Why VPA cancelled a Board approved show at the last minute, gives one pause as to why and how it was chosen in the first place.
We all love community theater and VPA has been the standard in The Valley for many years. It has served the community with quality productions but not all have been for general audiences. This play is for mature theater goers who enjoy the quirkiness of British humor. Not a British humor fan? You could become one, especially if Shakespeare is involved. Too bad you’ll miss it.
