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Show -- - i !MONDAY, MARCH 26, 2001 PAG E 11 UNIVERSITY JOURNAL OPIM ION BEST BRANDS • BEST PRICES ACCES$ Traveling TOGS C l ot hin g & Acce ss or ies Don't edi t what's intended huge selection of the hottest clothes at incredible prices, so you'll always arrive in style! A 'Access' is a recurring column through which students, faculty or staff mc;1y comntent on issues of concern to our readership. To submit 'Access.· contact associate editor Jessica Blonquist, by phone at 586-7750, or by e-mail at journal@suu.edu. Today's column is by Kay Cook, associate professor and associate department chair of language and literature. As a playwright and professor of playwriting, I have been reading with interest the article, Theatre editing done to attract audiences (Feb. 26 , 2001 ), as I have been following the lawsuit against the University of Utah for failure to edit scripts so that an acting student would not have to compromise her moral standards in order to fulfill her major requirements . A key paragraph in this article was, I believe , so embedded. in the discussion of editing that many readers may have missed it. I would like to emphasize that statement in this article: permission lo edit theatrical work is obtained before any performances are . altered. I congratuia·te Michael Don Bahr for placing ,the focus on obtaining permission and thus on the playwrights thems~lves . As with any copyrighted work, theatrical pieces may not be altered without permission of the playwright. To do so is illegal and leaves the director in charge as well as the department itself open to lawsuits that would greatly overshadow the one at the University of Utah. Playwrights are protected by the Dramatists Guild and other national organizations who serve as watchdogs over, among other things, production of plays without obtaining playwright permission or without paying royalties. At best, a play could be shut down for such infringements and at worst, legal action would be pursued . The so-called editing or censorship of language in a playwright's work would fall into this category. . The Dramatists Guild of America , the advocacy organization for playwrights as well as theatrical composers and lyricists. makes very clear that its mission is to protect the rights of playwrights and that such practices as referred to in the University Journal article are infringements upon intellectual property rights . Here is their statement: Dramatists' Copyright and Intellectual Property Rights. It is the artistic heritage of the playwright and a long-standing principle of the Dramatists Guild of America th at the dramatist owns and controls the intellectual property, including the copyright, of the ~uthor's script and of all changes of any kind whatsoever in the manuscript, title, -stage business or performance of the play. (www.dramaguiJd.com/), To edit the work of a living playwright ,or of a playwright whose plays hav.e not entered public domain is. I stress, illegal , as it violates copyright laws . I am concerned that the other persons quoted in the article did not seem to be aware that what they were discussing was copyright infringement. To edit Shakespeare' s plays is one thing: it is done frequently, most often by cutting scenes so that the production will take only a certain amount of time. I arn further dismayed by the statement by Mark Houser that hells and damns are usually unnecessary adjectives . We just kind of pass over them. I would say to Mr. Houser and others quoted in the article who also appear to take lightly the words we writers have labored over, that I have worked on my craft for a long , long time. V\/hen my characters use profanities many of them don't consider it to be unnecessary. I do consider my character's statements to be essential to who they are. And , I would rarely give perm ission for my script to be edited for this reason , although I would always be willing to discuss with a director and his or her actors !3ny proposed modification of my script. I am sympathetic with the theatre department's need to appeal to the conservative audiences in Utah, I agree with Dean Metten that audience is of great importance , because without viewers, you essentially don't have a play. Yet, I am also quite aware that theatre-goers in this state , especially in Cedar City, are actually above average in the ir sophisticat ion and understanding of theatrical conventions, as are the students who attend SUU. None of us thinks ' gratuitous violence , sexuality, or profanity make for good drama, but I would hope that, in a university setting , we understand that, as with the works of Shakespeare (who included · all three elements in his plays, but not gratuitously) , many plays explore the vast range of human experience , as does all good literature. '. - The Bristlecone Institute F o r Management ~ r -. -;:'.=..-:::._/ Development ! Presents: 'Tactics or Wealth" A Lecture by Thomas A. Barkume & Jeffrey C. Porter Barkume & Associa.t es ... . I• Tuesday, March 2 7·, 200 I 9:00 a.m. In the Starlight Room Sharwan Smith Center |