BYU Cancels Play
Move over, YouTube. There's a new problem at Brigham Young University.
The University of Utah's scheduled production of a classical Greek play at Brigham Young University was canceled at the last second by BYU officials who said its content was inappropriate for BYU students, the Daily Universe reports.
The play, Euripides's tragedy The Bakkhai, presents "difficult material," says the statement from BYU.
"The Bakkhai, on its surface, is about sex, wine, and losing one's inhibition and, at its core, is about defining god," Director Larry West told the Universe, BYU's student newspaper. "I would have loved to discuss this in the BYU setting."
But BYU's theater department apparently felt differently.
"The particular approach and concept for this production will be problematic for some of our audience members, which we felt we would like to not have," says Roger Sorensen, chairman of BYU's theater department.
Despite this year's blip, the University of Utah and BYU will continue putting on productions in the future, the report says.
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Tags: colleges | Brigham Young University
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Context is what matters. The objectification of nudity leads to the idiocracy mentality so common to degenerate societies.
While the Bacchae may be based on religion ( however limited its inspirational value may be) and while it's not sexually explicit, the idea of introducing young people who're fresh out of high school to a religion based on alcohol, sex, drugs and violence is just plain idiotic.
I have been to Utah, thank you.
Actually, Michael, having lived in Utah my whole life until a month ago, I do know what you are talking about. However, I don't think that BYU let the play travel down there just to annoy them or whatever motivation you are implying. If you read the SL Trib article, you can see that they didn't realize how the play was being presented and the cancellation was really a last minute deal. If it was inconvenient for the U of U students, think of all the refunds BYU has to give for tickets bought. You talk about this decision as if it was made out of spite. Give them some credit: we Mormons don't just ban things on a whim. Some thought really does go into it. For example, I saw a version of King Lear on a BYU study abroad which included Ian McKellan fully unclothed. It's not the nudity per say, but the way it's presented that matters.
Good call
A lot of ancient writing is obscene slop. Same goes for modern art. If a religious university cannot discriminate then they are in danger of falling into the cesspool of degeneration with all the other low lifes who wallow in the inferior cultural products created by dirty old men. BYU made a wise decision.
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