BANNED PLAYS

Summary

As public tastes change, so does the nature of popular drama. In the fifth century BCE, Aristophanes's Lysistrata attracted censors for its themes of wifely rebellion and sex. From the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries, plays were censored primarily for religious or political reasons. In the nineteenth century, social and sexual reasons for censorship emerged, and modern moralists have objected to works by such playwrights as Arthur Miller, Eugene O'Neill, and Lillian Hellman. Most recently, plays dealing with topics such as homosexuality and AIDS have garnered unwanted attention from censors.

This comprehensive guide outlines the censorship history of 125 classic plays from ancient times to the present. Each entry presents the name(s) under which the play has appeared, the date it was produced and country of original production, a summary of the play, its censorship history, and suggestions for further reading.

Author Biography

Dawn B. Sova holds a Ph.D. from Drew University and teaches English at Montclair State Universit

Acknowledgments

Introduction

List of Entries

BANNED PLAYS

(328)

Bibliography

329

(20)

Appendixes

I. Playwrights' Profiles

349

(26)

II. Reasons for Banning

375

(3)

III. 100 Additional Challenged, Censored, or Banned Plays

378

(3)

Index

381

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Excerpts

As public tastes change, so does the nature of popular drama. In the fifth century BCE, Aristophanes' Lysistrata attracted censors for its themes of wifely rebellion and sex. From the 15th to the 18th centuries, plays were censored primarily for religious or political reasons. In the 19th century, social and sexual reasons for censorship emerged. In recent years, plays dealing with topics such as homosexuality and AIDS have garnered attention from censors.
This comprehensive guide outlines the censorship histories of 125 classic plays from ancient times to the present. Each entry presents the name(s) under which the play has appeared, the date it was produced and place of original production, a summary of the play, its censorship history, and suggestions for further reading.
Among the works covered are:
Angels in America: Millennium Approaches (Tony Kushner, 1991)
Le Barbier de Seville (Pierre Beaumarchais, 1775)
The Children's Hour (Lillian Hellman, 1934)
The Crucible (Arthur Miller, 1953)
Henry IV, Part 2 (William Shakespeare, 1598)
Jesus Christ, Superstar (Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, 1971)
Oedipus Rex (Sophocles, 425 BCE)
Oh! Calcutta (Kenneth Tynan, 1969)
Salome (Oscar Wilde, 1896)
Le Tartuffe (Molière, 1669).