GUILD STATEMENTS - Cincinnati Playhouse: Paradise
Speaking on behalf of playwrights, composers, and lyricists nationwide, the Dramatists Guild of America deplores the recent actions of the Cincinnati Playhouse in canceling the production of the prize-winning play, Paradise, by Glyn O’Malley. The theatre had previously commissioned the play, which deals with a suicide bombing, and had intended to tour the production to local schools for the purpose of stimulating discussion on ethnic intolerance and violence. But when persons claiming to represent the Muslim interests in the community attacked the theatre and the play, the theatre did not stand up for its writer, its own intentions, or the principles of the First Amendment.
Preserving a free society requires constant vigilance, publicly and privately. It is the time-honored responsibility of writers to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves, in this case two young girls who are trapped in the cycle of violence in the Middle East. Writers then trust theatres to convey their messages to the audience. When theatres are afraid, the writers are silenced. When writers are silenced, so are we all.