Challenge 21 – Due 22/02 at 09:59:59am GMT
Snowflakes, snowflakes, everywhere, and not a drop of land to ski in!
Are we all too sensitive? Has theatre lost the power to shock, to hurt, to amaze and disgust because we’re so worried about offending others? Or even worse, offending ourselves. Shouldn’t we upset people by forcing them to face things they disagree with? Otherwise, aren’t we just preaching to the choir? (And isn’t that how we found ourselves in 2016 with some shockers?)
I mean, what we consider to be totally acceptable today used to be offensive and tabboo. Just think of A Doll’s House, Spring Awakening, Angels in America, Hair, and the list can go on for yonks.
In fact, The Lord Chamberlain’s office once banned the phrase “up periscopes” from being used on stage because they believed that more impressionable minds than theirs might be incited to “commit buggery” if heard that phrase… and dare I even mention Mary Whitehouse.
But… surely it was the fact that artists dared to offend, that helped bring change forward.
So let’s do that! Let’s write a play with the intention of offending others.
Now, before you start saying that you are not the kind of writer that upsets people – may I just remind you that you are not writing something to be produced. This is for your eyes only!
As always, I don’t read plays when asked not to – and as always – they are deleted at the end of the month.
Make it unethical… immoral… horrendously insulting to everything and everyone! And obviously – the fouler the language – I guess, the better!
And following on from Jelinek in Challenge 8 – this time I will refer you to her compatriot, Peter Handke’s “Offending The Audience”.
For bonus points – write something that offends you! But like – TRULY makes you scream in anger and upset!
P.S (anger, anger everywhere, but please don’t direct it at me… or at each other… lay it all in the play! 🙂 )
I intentionally did something to offend myself for this one. Everything in it is randomly generated.
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